A Swansea man nearly missed out on a £1 million EuroMillions win after leaving a pile of National Lottery receipts in his car for four months.
Darren Burfitt, 44, was encouraged by friends to check his tickets after a public appeal to locate a missing winner from the October 18 draw. While searching for a packet of crisps for his son, Burfitt noticed the pile of tickets in his car’s central console.
“I didn’t want to open a new bag of crisps, so I decided to grab one from the car. That’s when I saw the tickets and decided to check them,” he explained.
Burfitt took the tickets inside and began scanning them using the National Lottery app. He was initially thrilled to find he had won £3.60 on one ticket, but his excitement grew when he checked another ticket.
“One ticket was so creased that it wouldn’t scan, so I had to check the draw results manually,” he said. “When I saw the date and the matching EuroMillions Millionaire Maker code, I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it now!”
His excitement quickly turned to concern when he realized he had left his grey Citroen DS4 unlocked. “My car is a shed on wheels, held together by mud. I never bother to lock it,” he said. “I was just so relieved the ticket was still there.”
Burfitt had purchased the winning ticket at a Morrisons store while on the way to a caravan holiday with his family. When he called his wife, Gemma, to share the good news, his voice was shaking so much that she thought something bad had happened.
The couple now plans to buy their first home and a new car, with a pick-up truck topping their list. “I keep dreaming of a trip to Australia for the Ashes, but a new truck is first,” Burfitt said. “It will make family adventures even better.”
Gemma added, “I can’t believe we’ve won this much money. It feels unreal, like a dream I’m waiting to wake up from. We love our life and our caravan holidays, but this win will take everything to a whole new level.”
