The unlucky lottery winner who lost everything

However, shortly afterwards Lara some questionable emails on Roger's computer and accused him of having an affair. He denied it, but revealed he had borrowed against the family home, that all money their money was gone - spelling the end of their 14 year marriage. They have also invested on the stock market and in other property, ensuring financial security for their family in the future. Ferraris in the drive and, Christmas presents excepted, their lives are largely devoid of bling. First, there is the dogged, incremental crawl uphill, briefly thankless, towards what awaits at the top, and then comes a great careless swoosh: a tipping point after which money seems to beget more money and everything just takes care of itself. The winner's journey from overdraft to overload is instant and jet-propelled, less like a roller coaster than one of those fairground towers that propels you into the sky in a matter of seconds. There's no time to anticipate, to adapt, to ease gradually into your new circumstances. Reporters always ask the blinking recipient of great good fortune how he celebrated, knowing that the 48-hour or so gap between getting the news and getting the money affords the chance for an amusing bit of colour. But sudden wealth of this incomprehensible sort is a relatively recent phenomenon in Britain. There were the football pools, but the most anyone had won by the time the National Lottery launched in 1994 was a couple of million. Nicky do not appear to have had any qualms about going public. Last Monday, Andy visited their home, and asked Neil to complete some paperwork. He asked for ID, scanned the ticket, and when authorisation came through, asked where Neil would like the cash deposited. There are case studies to the contrary, such as Roger and Lara Griffiths, happily married when they won, separated and broke a few years later after a series of bad investments. When Warwick University's Professor Andrew Oswald did exactly that, he found that the evidence was "overwhelmingly that winning the lottery makes you happier and improves your mental health".Not everyone agrees. The Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert studied amputees and lottery winners, for example, and found that about three years after their life-changing moment, they had got sufficiently used to it to be about as happy as they were before. I don't know if such poignant fantasies are good or bad, but I know they're inevitable. Indeed, for the first time in absolutely ages, I'm thinking of buying a ticket. BBC has updated its cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This includes cookies from third party social media websites if you visit a page which contains embedded content from social media. Such third party cookies may track your use of the BBC website. Their investments proved ill-judged, and her husband left her after she discovered emails suggesting he was interested in another woman. The couple remortgaged their new home and spent even more money on the salon - hoping that things would improve. The stress led to the breakdown of their marriage and the failure of the business. He claims he was misled about his football club investment and a bitter legal battle followed – he lost and was forced to sell property to cover his costs. I’m falling asleep, I do the mental maths until my head hurts. Gerald Muswagon won the $10 million Super 7 jackpot in Canada. But he blew it all on drinking and partying in only seven years.

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