In a twist of fate, a mother of two is poised to claim a £12 million lottery jackpot after her winning ticket was mistakenly tossed into the trash by a shopkeeper.
Kath Main, 46, hailing from Pontypridd in South Wales, recounted how her lucky numbers were discarded at a Londis in Abercynon because they didn’t register correctly on the terminal.
After conducting an investigation, the National Lottery operator, Allwyn, has determined that she will be awarded the jackpot as long as no competing claims are made by December 3.
Anticipation grips Ms. Main, who intends to invest part of her windfall in a Lions rugby tour of New Zealand. She confessed to feeling persistently anxious as she waits for the cutoff date to pass.
For the June 6 Saturday draw, the 46-year-old placed her hopes on her signature numbers: 8, 10, 26, 30, 35, and 42.
When she realised the prize had gone unclaimed, she spoke to her mother, Fiona, who buys the tickets each week, and asked her to double check the numbers.
But her mother said she could not have won as when she presented the ticket in the shop, she was told the machine had not registered any prizes.
Kath Main, 46, from South Wales claims she had a £12million winning lottery ticket – but only discovered her luck hours after a shopkeeper threw it away
The 46-year-old had played her usual lucky numbers of eight, 10, 26, 30, 35 and 42, for the Saturday draw on June 6
She agreed for the shopkeeper to throw the ticket away – with Ms Main only realising it was a winning ticket hours after the bin had already been emptied.
The shop, meanwhile, does not have any CCTV because it is being renovated.
Speaking to The Sun, Ms Main said: ‘I just feel sick all the time, it’s the not knowing and waiting.
‘I’m trying not to think about what I’d do with the money in case I don’t get it.’
Londis owner Karan Kumar added: ‘It would be amazing if she won.’
A spokesman for Allwyn said: ‘We are the only major lottery which is able to look to pay a winner even if they have lost their ticket.
‘The investigation we conduct is designed to ensure any claim is from the rightful ticketholder.
‘We are then able, at our discretion, to pay that player once the claim period has expired 180 days after the draw.
‘We are proud to pay out millions of prizes as well as raising over £33M for Good Causes each week.’
Last month, more than 1.5million National Lottery players were urged to check their accounts – as £7.5million in prizes has gone unclaimed.
London has the highest concentration of unsuspecting winners – with more than 200,000 players sitting on hidden winnings.
Some previous players have also managed to scoop big prizes after initially losing their tickets.
Builder Andrew Clarke was able to claim £76million in 2018 despite misplacing his ticket for six weeks.
He eventually found it in the visor of his van after his partner and niece heard about the unclaimed prize on the news.
At the time he said: ‘It almost feels like some magical Christmas story, the man who nearly lost £76 million!’
Father-of-five Amo Riselli also scooped a £24.5million jackpot after losing his ticket for two days.
The taxi driver had accidentally left it in the glove compartment of his car before realising his success.
Despite only matching five numbers, he eventually took home a cheque for £24,501,283.