I won £1 million on the lottery, but a stupid app blunder meant I didn't get my money for months

A mum has told how she won £1million in the lottery but didn't get her money for months.

Deborah Burgess, 56, from Wigston, Leicestershire, even called the police for help when she discovered she had won.

Deborah Burgess won a whopping £1million playing Lotto in August last year

Deb plans to use some of her winnings to refurbish her holiday home in Cornwall

She won the life-changing prize in the Lotto draw on August 19 last year.

But the medical records manager didn't realize for months that she had gained anything after she fell ill with chronic anemia and had to spend time in the hospital herself for treatment.

Due to her illness and then a holiday to recover, Mrs Burgess did not check her emails for a while.

But when she finally read the National Lottery notice, she initially thought it was a scam until it was confirmed and her winnings were paid out.

Recalling the moment she heard about her life-changing win, Deb said: “I had finally managed to catch up on things after a difficult few months and was at home checking my emails – there were so many after I hadn't been online for a while.

“I noticed I had one from the National Lottery with a reminder to check my account because I was a winner, so I checked my account with my mother every now and then.

“I had the shock of my life when I checked my account.

“I asked my mother what she thought, and because neither of us could see it clearly after such an incredible shock, she told me to call the police to check if it was a scam.

“I called them and they reassured me, so I then called the National Lottery and the man on the other end of the line confirmed that the win was indeed real.

“Funnily enough, I still didn't think it was real until a National Lottery lady actually showed up on my doorstep to confirm everything and pay me out my winnings.

“So I guess the moral of the story is to check your National Lottery account regularly.

“I was a millionaire for months, but I didn't know it.”

After finding out she had become a millionaire in October last year, Mrs Burgess shared the news with her son Nathan, 21, and his girlfriend. She plans to use some of her winnings to help them after Nathan graduates from college.

As well as planning a trip to swim with dolphins in Hawaii with her family, Mrs Burgess is also spending the money on converting a bedroom into a bathroom for her mother Patricia and installing new garden fences after recent storms damaged them. demolished.

Mrs Burgess has also bought a new car after selling her old one, a Peugeot 2008, to Mrs Smith.

She said: “I bought a new car. It's not brand new, but one Nice Hyundai.

'I wasn't planning on selling my car, but my girlfriend wanted to buy it from me. She wanted to pay the right price, but because of the win I sold it to her for just a pound.

“It feels great to be able to do something like that.”

Speaking about her win, Ms Burgess said: “The last few months have been one fade – illness, then going back to work, holidays, Christmas, New Year – I just couldn't find time to celebrate and I was very conscious of monitoring my health.

“But finally getting that big check in hand and spraying champagne like a Formula 1 driver has been more than worth the wait.”