A man is reeling from shock after scooping a massive £10 million lottery prize, only for his wife to scoop an “unbelievable” payout moments later. The lucky punter struck gold when he matched all the numbers on April 23. Shortly after he received the news his wife disclosed her astonishing win with a nearly identical combination of numbers.
Though she didn’t hit the main jackpot, the woman’s selection netted her a cool £51,000, as the couple in Hillion, Brittany, France – who wish to remain anonymous – come to terms with their windfall.
According to Française des Jeux, the French lottery operator, the husband was initially incredulous, admitting that he “didn’t believe it” at first. Despite their win in April, they just recently came forward to validate their lucky tickets, reports ICI.
Math whizzes claim the likelihood of winning the lottery with a single ticket is approximately one in 19 million. They describe bagging two prizes in one night as an “extremely rare joint probability,” yet concede it’s within the realms of mathematical possibility.
This stroke of good fortune ranks as the second-largest jackpot in Côtes-d’Armor’s history. It follows a previous fortunate winner bagging about £14.4 million during the EuroMillions draw last March.
In the wake of the couple’s success story, the local shopkeeper has noticed a surge of people rushing to buy lottery tickets. Cecile, proprietor of the tobacconist’s shop in Le Havane, remarked: “People are much more likely to come in and play.”
The local buzz is undeniable in Hillion as Charlotte, a nearby beautician, remarked: “People were stopping or slowing down while pointing at the tobacco shop last week.”
Tobacconist patrons are certainly aware of the serendipity involved in securing a lottery win. In conversation with ICI, Fabien noted, “These are people who chose their numbers. If they had played elsewhere, they would have won too.”
Spain boasts laying claim to Europe’s largest lottery jackpot – a stupendous £316,214,310 prize that was divided amongst 90 fortunate winners.
Meanwhile a EuroMillions winner in the UK secured a £195.7m jackpot in 2022. It put them among the top 15 lottery wins of all time in the United Kingdom.
At the time, Andy Carter, Camelot’s senior winners’ adviser at the National Lottery, said: “This is absolutely incredible news.”
The massive windfall eclipsed the winnings of Joe Thwaite and his wife, Jess, from Gloucestershire, who previously held the UK record with their £184m catch in May 2022.
Recounting his extraordinary luck, Joe said, “Generally my luck is pretty terrible, to be honest with you.
“I saw how much and I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t go back to sleep, I didn’t want to wake Jess up, so I just laid there for what seemed like forever. I spent some time searching for property with no budget limit, which was a novelty!”.