Carer's £3m lottery win after buying a scratch card on a whim

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Susan Richards lottery winner
Susan Richards lottery winner



Susan Richards, a 49-year-old carer from Essex, hadn't planned to buy a Lotteryscratchcard. She was on her way home from a night shift, and decided at the last-minute to pop to Sainsbury's. While she was paying, she pulled a handful of change from her pocket, and realised it came to exactly £10. That's when she decided to pick up the scratchcard that won her £3 million

Susan, from Rochford in Essex, scratched off the symbols of the £250 Million Cash Spectacular card while she was in the car park. She saw her winning symbol and couldn't believe it, so she got back out of the car, went into the supermarket, and asked to see the manager.

She told reporters he had let her use his office to call Camelot and confirm the win. It was only after that call that she rang her partner Barry Maddox to tell him what had happened.
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Winning reactions

You might think you're ready to win the lottery at any time, but often when the moment strikes, winners are overcome with doubt. When David and Carol Martin won £33 million on the lottery earlier this month, they told the press that their first reaction was to sit in stunned silence, checking the numbers over and over again because 'we thought there must be a mistake.' David added: "All we could do was drink lots of hot tea and try and make sense of it all."

In 2007 a couple from Cardiff won almost £5 million. The pair checked the numbers on Teletext, but didn't believe they had won. They had to wait until 9am for the Camelot office to open before they could confirm the win, so the wife went to work, and her husband stayed glued to Teletext in case the numbers changed.

A study by Professor Michael Trimble of the Institute of Neurology, University College, and Professor Dale Hesdorffer of Columbia University, found that the initial reaction to a lottery win is usually either shock or disbelief. Trimble says people who have discovered they have won often go silent for long periods of time - punctuated with screams of happiness.

Their most joyful memory of winning isn't the exact moment they found out they were worth millions. The joy kicks in when they tell their loved ones about the win.



Could It Be You? Lottery Appeal for £33m Winner
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