There are many ways in which players choose their lottery numbers. For Kelly Firth from Halifax in Yorkshire, England, it was the selection that her late mother used that won her £1,600 in a Lotto Hotpicks draw. However, the discovery of the win soon had Kelly, 44, in a state of panic.
The 44-year-old used to buy Lotto Hotpicks tickets for her mother every week. After her mother died in May 2021, she had the job of cleaning her flat. While doing so, she found a card that had her mother’s numbers on it.
Deciding to keep up the family tradition, Kelly used 7,17 and 37 for the Lotto Hotpicks draws held on Wednesday and Saturday draws.even though they had never produced any wins. The other two numbers required were randomly chosen by the lottery machine.
There was no luck on Wednesday and her ticket was torn into pieces. When it came to the next draw it was a totally different story. Three numbers came up with two £800 wins and the celebrations began. The grandmother-of-four began shouting at her mother’s ashes. Then the radio began playing her mother’s favourite song ‘Simply the Best’ by Tina Turner.
However, she then remembered that not thinking those numbers were lucky, she’d thrown the ticket away. “My heart dropped,” recalled Kelly and she began to panic. She’d only just put her black bin bag out so went to the communal bins to search for the winning ticket.
“I jumped in the big bin outside and pulled every black bin liner out and searched every one until I found the tickets which luckily still had the barcode intact.”
Her ticket was taken to a local shop and the assistant was able to put it back together again. The winnings were paid out but Kelly still can’t believe that she won the prize using her mother’s numbers. “I’m still in shock and always will be. It was a sign from mum and I still can’t believe it,” said Kelly.
Her winnings enabled the mother of two to treat her family. “I took my little family on a little trip to Blackpool with the winnings – my daughter Demi, 26, and my four grandsons, Harley, 10, Coby Jay, eight, Addison Rio, five, and Kylan, four.” The Lotto Hotpicks winner said her late mother would be pleased to know their win had given them so much joy.
