Forklift driver's $1.3M lottery win ends in hospital

A man who won a $1 million lottery prize in the UK National Lottery earlier this year says a recent health emergency was the wake-up call he needed to make major lifestyle changes.

Adam Lopez, 39, of Mattishall, UK, won £1m, the equivalent of about $1.3 million, in July after purchasing a scratch-off ticket at a convenience store in Hellesdon. The sudden windfall, he said, led to three months of heavy partying and little rest, according to the BBC.

On September 10, Lopez was hospitalized after developing a bilateral pulmonary embolism — a potentially life-threatening condition caused by blood clots in the lungs. He spent more than eight days in the hospital. Lopez told the BBC:

I knew what I was doing was going to come to an end eventually, and it nearly came to an end in the worst possible way. It was a massive wake-up call.

First signs of illness

Lopez said the first signs of trouble appeared about three weeks before his hospitalization, when he developed a blood clot in his leg that later spread to his lungs. “I couldn't walk, I couldn't breathe,” he said. “The biggest life-changing thing I had was lying in the back of that ambulance and hearing the sirens.”

The former forklift driver said he quit his job shortly after his win, a decision he now regrets. He recalled:

I lost the structure to my life and day-to-day living. It was a complete disconnect from the life I was living.

Lopez praised hospital staff for their care, saying he felt “surrounded by angels.” The experience, he added, shifted his perspective on money and priorities. “It doesn't matter if you have a million or a billion — when you're in the back of the ambulance, none of it matters,” he said.

Now focused on recovery, Lopez said he plans to spend the next several months improving his health. “It was such a hard time for me and my family,” he said. “By the end of it, I hope to be back to the full version of me.”

Similar cases

The BBC did not report whether or not Lopez lost his fortune. But Lopez is far from being the only lotto winner who used his winnings to party hard. Many winners lost all of their money.

Michael Carroll, a former garbage collector from Norfolk, England, won £9.7 million (about $12.7 million) in the UK National Lottery in 2002 at age 19. His extravagant lifestyle following the win earned him the nickname “Lotto Lout.”

He reportedly spent large portions of his winnings on parties, luxury cars, jewelry, and other indulgences. His Norfolk mansion became known for hosting frequent gatherings that drew widespread media attention.

By 2010, Carroll had exhausted his fortune and was reportedly bankrupt. He later returned to manual labor jobs, including work as a garbage collector and a coalman.

Other lottery winners who went from jackpot wins to rock bottom include:

• David Lee Edwards, a former felon from Kentucky, won $21 million in the Powerball in 2001. Within five years, he had spent nearly all his winnings on drugs, lavish parties, and luxury items. His fortune quickly disappeared, and Edwards died in poverty several years later.
• Gerald Muswagon, a Canadian Lottery Winner, won $10 million in 2011. He reportedly spent heavily on parties and gifts for friends and family, turning his home into a frequent gathering place. Muswagon ultimately lost all his money and died in financial hardship.
• Curtis Sharp won $5 million in the New York Lottery during the 1980s. Sharp spent heavily on parties, cars, and homes, but his fortune eventually ran out. After two divorces and struggles with alcoholism, he later said he relied on help from his first wife to make ends meet.