Adam López’s life changed overnight when a simple lottery ticket brought him a prize of more than a million pounds. What seemed like the beginning of a fairy tale turned into a bitter story about excess, loss of control and a painful recovery.
According to the Spanish newspaper AS, the 39-year-old man lived in Mattishall, a small town in Norfolk, in the east of England, and worked as a forklift driver. In July, he bought five lottery tickets for around five pounds, without imagining what was about to happen.
As he revealed to the BBC, his bank account went from 12.40 pounds, just over 14 euros, to an impressive 1,000,012.40 pounds, the equivalent of more than 1.15 million euros. The winning ticket had been purchased in a small neighborhood shop near Norwich.
“When I saw the million pounds, I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I kept the note in the car and tried to pretend nothing had happened.” For a few days, Adam kept the secret, but soon the news of his luck changed everything.
The beginning of the dream
With the money in his account, he decided to enjoy life. “I never imagined something like this would happen to me. I felt blessed”, he confessed. The first step was to give his mother a Range Rover and buy another for himself. Then came the trips and parties.
The chosen destination was Barbados, where he spent vacations with family and friends. The following months were a succession of celebrations, expenses and luxuries. “It was a total disconnect with the life I had before,” he later admitted.
The euphoria of the prize quickly turned into out of control. Adam left his job, began spending without limits and fell into a routine of excess. “I thought it was indestructible, but it turns out it wasn’t”, he admits.
Or unexpected collapse
Three months later, everything collapsed. The parties, the lack of rest and the lack of care for our health took their toll. One day, he woke up unable to breathe. He called an ambulance and was urgently taken to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
Doctors diagnosed him with a bilateral pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot that had formed in his leg and traveled to his lungs. “I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t breathe,” he recalls. “The sound of the sirens made me realize what really matters.”
During his recovery, the repentant millionaire had time to reflect on what he had done. “I allowed myself to live a life I had never lived, but I think I was wrong. Money made me lose my way”, he admits candidly.
A lesson you won’t forget
Today, Adam looks at the experience as a warning. “Being in the back of an ambulance changes you. You realize that it doesn’t matter if you have a million, a hundred million or a billion, when your life is at risk, money is worthless.”
The embolism forced him to rethink priorities and adopt a simpler lifestyle. He went back to work and is now trying to help other people not to make the same mistakes. “The prize didn’t make me happy. What makes me happy is having health and time with my family.”
Although the episode left a deep impression on him, he says he doesn’t regret playing. “Winning was a blessing, but managing the blessing was the real challenge”, he concludes, quoted by .
Adam’s story serves as a warning to many who dream of a life of immediate wealth. Money can open doors, but it can also close them, especially when it arrives without warning and without balance.
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