A grieving son who found his mother’s winning lottery ticket three days after she died says he feels like it is her ‘last final gift’ to him.
Liam Carter, 34, found the EuroMillions ticket folded inside an envelope, which his mother Anne and avid lottery player had heartbreakingly scrawled on the front ‘Sat draw – don’t forget!’.
She died on April 16, aged 67, just two days before her winning numbers came up having played every week and ‘never winning anything big in her life’.
Mr Carter, originally from Hampshire but now living in Aberdeen, discovered the folded envelope inside her kitchen drawer, where his loving mother usually kept her tickets.
‘She always said if she ever won, the money would be for me,’ he said.
‘And even though she never knew about this win, it really felt like something she left behind for me. Like one final gift.’
The ticket had matched five main numbers — 20, 27, 35, 39 and 48 — just missing the two Lucky Stars, 03 and 08.
It meant Anne had won a payout of £18,403.
Liam Carter, 34, originally from Hampshire but now living in Aberdeen, was sorting through his mother Anne’s possessions after she died aged 67 when he found the ticket
Mr Carter had almost ignored the ticket but said ‘something told me to check’.
‘I scanned it using the National Lottery app, and it said it was a winning ticket — but I’d have to call the lottery line,’ he added
He phoned the line last Saturday and ‘just froze’ when he was told of how much the winning ticket was worth.
Mr Carter said: ‘I must’ve gone quiet on the phone. It didn’t feel real. She never won anything big in her life — and now this.’
He added: ‘She always said if she ever won, the money would be for me,’ he said. ‘And even though she never knew about this win, it really felt like something she left behind for me. Like one final gift.’
He plans to use the money towards a deposit on a flat, something he says his mother always wanted him to achieve.
A spokesperson from Playcasino.com said: ‘Liam’s story shows that the lottery isn’t just about money — it’s about meaning. In this case, a forgotten ticket became something powerful and emotional.
‘It’s a reminder that even the smallest moments can carry the biggest impact.’
Anne’s ticket had matched five main numbers meaning the payout was £18,043 (file pic)
In 2022, grandfather Andrew Gillion, 59, of North Lanarkshire, Scotland, died before learning he had won a share of a £7.9million Postcode Lottery jackpot.
He had entered the draw before falling down the stairs while at a friend’s house party on New Year’s Eve the year before.
The Scottish Water worker died suddenly on January 7, 2022, at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Glasgow, during an operation to take the pressure off his neck.
After his death, a golden envelope was discovered at his home, revealing that he and everyone else on Shaw Crescent, in Wishaw, had won a share of £7.9m – which in his case amounted to £8,092.
Mr Gillon’s daughter Lisa Thomas, 32, said the winnings were like one last present from her father, who had told her: ‘You won’t be laughing when I win’.
The mother-of-three told the Daily Record: ‘When I got it confirmed, I felt absolutely devastated at first.
‘I could just hear the excited phone call from him telling me he had won and I know his first thought would be to book us all a holiday.
‘Now I still feel sad that he’s not here to enjoy this with us, but I also feel some excitement for him and I’m sure he has had something to do with this.
‘There’s been so many ‘signs’ since he left us and I’m certain he is watching saying ‘I told you so’.’
Ms Thomas collected the £8,092 on her father’s behalf and said at the time she would most likely use it for a holiday, which he would have wanted.
