A college student was in shock after her numbers were called in a EuroMillions draw to win a whopping €212million, only to be left heartbroken moments later.
Rachel Kennedy, from Hertfordshire in the UK, jumped to call her mum and boyfriend Liam McCrohan, 21, into the room, with the trio envisioning how the teen's life would change with the incredible sum of money.
But her dreams were quashed after a call to lottery bosses quickly pointed to an error on the 19-year-old’s behalf leaving her "absolutely heartbroken.”
When the payment for her usual ticket tried to go through, her bank account only had €2.90 in it, so the ticket was not automatically bought prior to the draw as it usually was.
However, a glitch in the system meant she was still sent an alert the following day declaring her the winner.
She revealed that she had been using those exact numbers with Liam for five weeks in a row - 6, 12, 22, 29, 33, 6, and 11 - which were then drawn on February 26, 2021 - but there was nothing that could be done.
The ticket hadn't been paid for ahead of the draw, leaving her chances null and void.
After Rachel went public with the devastatingly unlucky close call, Camelot wished her "the best of luck in future draws".
The teenager told The Sun: "I called the number thinking that I had won £182million (€212million) and they said 'yeah you've got the right numbers but you didn't have the funds in your account for the payment of the ticket so it didn't actually go through'.
"I was on top of the world when I thought I had won, but when I found out I hadn't, Liam was actually more upset than me."
Having checked her account, she was initially greeted with a message saying her numbers were a "winning match".
However, her heart sank when she realised the glitch soon after, she recalled.
In March last year, a spokesman for Camelot added: "We're aware of Rachel's story and hope she gets in early to buy a ticket for the next big draw."
ITV chat show host Lorraine Kelly urged her viewers at the time to "spare a thought" for Rachel.
"Oh, oh oh. Jeez. Spare a thought for them. It is a tough one, isn't it? Yes. That is definitely a tough one," she said.
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter .
