An English granny may have scrubbed her chances of collecting a £33m lottery jackpot after accidentally washing the winning ticket.
On Sunday, UK media identified 48-year-old Worcester resident Susanne Hinte as one of two winners of the National Lottery’s record £66m jackpot earlier this month. Trouble is, the grandmother of four isn’t sure she can collect after accidentally leaving the ticket in a pair of jeans that she put through the wash.
According to Hinte’s daughter, the winning numbers on the ticket are faded but still legible. However, the washing machine managed to scrub off the ticket’s date, bar code and serial number, and National Lottery operator Camelot is noncommittal about Hinte’s chances of cashing her alleged winner.
A Camelot spokesman said the company had instructed Hinte to submit the ticket along with as much identifying detail as possible regarding where and when she purchased the ticket, as well as whether or not she selected the six winning numbers by herself or let the machine choose the numbers.
Regardless of what data Hinte is able to provide, Camelot says it won’t confirm or reject her claim until July, when the stipulated 180-day deadline for submitting a claim on the jackpot expires. Camelot expects more claims will be made before this window closes.
Hinte, who is reportedly “a nervous wreck,” may not know whether she’s a winner but that hasn’t’ stopped her from enjoying the less desirable results of being identified on Facebook as a jackpot winner. Hinte’s daughter claimed strangers are already inundating her mother with requests for financial help.
The moral of the story? If you play the lottery, never wash your clothes. To be safe, stop bathing entirely. If nothing else, the accompanying stench coming off your body will probably help clear the queue for tickets the next time the lottery jackpot swells to record highs.
