A 39-year-old forklift driver from Norfolk, England, went from having just £12.40 (around RM73) in his bank account to becoming a millionaire overnight after winning £1 million (around RM5.2 million) from a scratch card. But just two months after quitting his job to live lavishly, his dream life nearly ended in tragedy when he was rushed to the hospital with a life-threatening blood clot in his lungs.
Adam Lopez struck gold in July after spending £5 (around RM29) on a scratch card at a convenience store. Overjoyed, he immediately quit his construction job, sold his forklift, and splurged on luxury cars — buying himself a Range Rover Sport and gifting his mother a Range Rover Evoque. He even booked a lavish holiday to Barbados, saying, “I never thought something like this could happen to me. I feel so lucky!”
But the whirlwind of parties and non-stop celebrations soon took a toll. By September 10, Lopez developed severe breathing difficulties caused by a blood clot that spread from his leg to his lungs. He was hospitalized for eight days and told it could take up to nine months to fully recover.
Speaking to the BBC after his ordeal, Lopez reflected, “It doesn’t matter if you have a million, a billion, or a trillion — when you’re in the back of an ambulance, none of that means anything.” He admitted quitting his job too soon and losing control of his lifestyle, saying, “Winning changed me, but I went in the wrong direction.”
