The National Lottery in the UK has spoken out for the first time after an unlucky teenager missed out on a £182m Euromillions win.
Rachel Kennedy, 19, and her boyfriend Liam McCrohan, 21, were left “absolutely heartbroken” when they realised her usual numbers of 6, 12, 22, 29, 33, 6 and 11 had come up in February 26's draw, Mirror.co.uk reports.
Unfortunately, the university student's online account did not have enough funds to automatically buy a ticket.
Camelot, which has operated the UK's state-franchised national lottery since its establishment in 1994, has wished Rachel "the best of luck in future draws", reports Birmingham Live.
Speaking before yesterday's £20 million Lotto jackpot was scooped by multiple winners last night, a company spokesman added: "We're aware of Rachel's story and hope she gets in early to buy a ticket for the next big draw."
Have you missed out a lottery win similar to Rachel? Let us know at news@risihmirror.ie
Rachel and Liam, from Hertfordshire, had played the same numbers for five weeks in a row, before all seven digits appeared.
Checking her account, she was greeted with a message saying her numbers were a "winning match" - however her heart sank when she realised the glitch
Rachel, a business student at Brighton University, told the Sun: "I called my boyfriend Liam and my mum into the room and they couldn't believe it either so I was like, 'oh my god I need to call them'.
"I called the number thinking that I had won £182million and they said 'yeah you've got the right numbers but you didn't have the funds in your account for the payment of the ticket so it didn't actually go through'.
"I was on top of the world when I thought I had won, but when I found out I hadn't, Liam was actually more upset than me."
ITV chat show host Lorraine Kelly urged her viewers on Friday to "spare a thought" for Rachel.
"Oh, oh oh. Jeez. Spare a thought for them. It is a tough one, isn't it? Yes. That is definitely a tough one," she said.
