A Swansea couple recently discovered they had been unknowingly sitting on a £1 million EuroMillions lottery ticket for four months, having left it in their unlocked car. The fortunate find was made when Darren Burfitt, 44, went to fetch a packet of crisps for his four-year-old son.
Darren, a green-keeper at Langland Bay Golf Club, had purchased the winning ticket on October 18, 2024, from Morrisons Daily in Penllergaer while on his way to a caravan holiday. Following the draw, family and friends had urged him to check his lottery tickets after an appeal was made to locate a missing millionaire, but the tickets remained unexamined until the fateful day.
Speaking about the moment of discovery, Darren recounted, “I had a few tickets in the central console of my car – it is where I always keep them for safety, and I just hadn’t got round to checking them.” On that particular Sunday morning, he decided to scan the tickets using The National Lottery app after retrieving them from his vehicle. Initially, he was elated to see a modest win of £3.60 on one ticket. However, as he inspected a particularly crumpled ticket, he was astonished to find it was the winning EuroMillions Millionaire Maker code, which matched his ticket.
“I couldn’t quite believe it when I did,” Darren noted. “Infact, I still cannot believe it now. I just kept looking at the date and then the matching EuroMillions Millionaire Maker code – and then the date and the code again - I just could not comprehend what I was seeing.”
A sense of disbelief soon washed over him as he realised he had left his car unlocked every single day for the last four months, raising concerns about what could have happened to the winning ticket had someone taken it. “My car is honestly a shed on wheels, held together with mud. It has almost no value, so I never bother to lock it! I dread to think what could have happened to that winning ticket,” he said.
Darren’s wife, Gemma, 34, was not home at the time of the discovery. When he shared the news with her, his voice was so shaky that Gemma initially feared something was wrong with their children. “I said no – we have won one million pounds! But she just wouldn’t believe me,” he recounts.
The couple, who also have a six-year-old daughter, are now looking forward to the future with this sudden windfall. Their plans include purchasing their first home together, as well as acquiring a new pick-up truck to replace their current vehicle. Darren expressed his desire for a trip to Australia, hoping to see The Ashes, but prioritised obtaining a pick-up truck, which he believes will enhance their family adventures.
Gemma expressed her own disbelief at the turn of events, stating, “I just could never imagine having this much money – it is an unreal feeling. I literally have to keep pinching myself – thinking it is a dream which I will wake up from! This just takes things to another level and allows us to do even more as a family. It changes everything and we can finally buy a home of our own. It is going to give us so much security for our future and our children’s future.”
Darren, originally from Burnley, highlighted the serendipity of purchasing the winning ticket while stopping for drinks on their way to a family holiday, affirming that it is an experience that will change their lives moving forward.
Source: Noah Wire Services