My life changed overnight when my parents won the lottery – it was embarrassing & we lived in fear of being kidnapped
A YOUNG man has revealed the truth behind winning the lottery, and it’s not all good news.
Jayden Clark, who is originally from Australia shared his story on social media and what it’s really like to win millions.
He revealed their life was relatively normal before winning, he grew up with two siblings and his mum and dad, who lived paycheck to paycheck.
“We had a home that I remember like at this stage, my parents were like fighting to keep and very much paycheck to paycheck lifestyle,” he said.
But his dad had been using the same lottery numbers for five years, and overnight they became multi-millionaires.
Jayden was young when the family won, and was picked up from school by his mum to be greeted with a massive cheque.
He added: “But at that age I had no understanding of money, and how much that really was going to change our life.”
He said his parents became paranoid and were fearful the children would be kidnapped as a ransom for their lotto winnings.
The kids took two weeks off school after the win while their parents figured out how to live their new lives.
While the money was an obvious bonus, Jayden said it made the family feel like they were living a double life and didn’t fit in anywhere.
It got so bad that Jayden ended up moving to LA adding: ” I feel like I belong and like it was normal because there’s so many crazy people here with crazy lives, and realities and journeys.”
The family also struggled with the guilt of winning so much money when people around them were still in the same position and taught their children it was ‘nothing to be proud of.’
Unfortunately, Jayden said his parents divorced a decade later and had to sell off a lot of their assets and that it was ’embarrassing’ to not have worked for the money,
The clip of Jayden’s lottery story soon went viral on his TikTok account @jaydenclark21 with over 870k views and 30k likes.
People were quick to share their thoughts in the comments.
One person wrote: “My dad won $250k. Never told my brother and I.”
Another commented: “Fascinating story. I bought my first new car recently with inheritance money. It’s a weird feeling driving something nice when you haven’t worked for it. The guilt almost feels like imposter syndrome.”
“Thanks bro for sharing, we never hear people talk about it ever,” penned a third.
Curse of lotto winners
Despite hitting the jackpot, countless UK lotto winners have suffered astonishing tragedies and lost their fortunes.
Callie Rogers
Callie became Britain’s youngest lottery winner when she won £1.9million in 2003.
The 16-year-old from Cumbria gave up her £3.60-an-hour checkout job and went on a spending spree, purchasing a £180,000 bungalow and a £76,000 home for her mum.
But she ultimately blew thousands on wild parties, three boob jobs and drugs, plus around £300,000 on designer clothes.
Eighteen years after her win, Callie was found to be claiming Universal Credit after blowing her fortune.
Michael Carrol
The self-styled ‘King of Chavs’ was 19 when he scooped £9,736,131 on the National Lottery in November 2002.
The part-time binman, who was wearing an electronic tag when he bought his winning ticket, immediately bought a £340,000 six-bedroom home in Norfolk.
He spent a further £400,000 on lavish home upgrades and dropped £49,000 on a BMW to park in his drive. He most notably invested £1million in Rangers FC shares.
Michael’s wife, Sandra, left him over his incessant party boy lifestyle and took £1.4million from the divorce settlement. By 2010, he had declared bankruptcy.
Roger Griffiths
Griffiths and his wife Lara netted £1.8million on the National Lottery in 2005.
Quitting their day jobs, the couple enjoyed expensive holidays and luxury motors and also splashed £800,000 on a barn conversion in Wetherby, West Yorks.
After wannabe rock star Roger spent £25,000 making a music record, the couple divested into safer assets but the global financial crisis hit and rendered them worthless.
In 2010, their uninsured home tragically went up in flames – and all their funds dried up three years later.
Lee Ryan
Ex-jailbird Ryan scooped the £6.5million jackpot just 17 weeks after the lottery was launched in 1994.
It later emerged he was accused of handling stolen cars and was imprisoned for 18 months after his huge payout.
Once released he spent a decade enjoying his riches, even buying a helicopter and a £2million mansion but ultimately ended up penniless.
Lee was dealt his final blow when he took an ill-fated trip to Kyrgyzstan and invested the last of his winnings in property, which failed due to an economic crisis.
Gillian and Adrian Bayford
The loving couple’s lives changed overnight in 2012 when they scooped a staggering £148million.
But just 15 months after the win, their eight-year marriage ended with both parties partly blaming stress on their mind-boggling win.
Adrian shacked up with ex-horse groomer Samantha Burbidge, who ended up bolting with his money, 30 horses, a horse box, and a car he gifted her.
Gillian was convicted of attacking her ex-lover Gavin Innes. She then moved on and started dating fraudster Brian Deans, who ended up in jail, and last made the headlines in 2021 for claiming nearly £40,000 in furlough cash.
Margaret Loughrey
Margaret scooped £27million in 2013 and became Northern Ireland’s biggest winner at the time.
However, the 48-year-old later admitted the huge fortune didn’t bring her any happiness.
She told local media: “Money has brought me nothing but grief. It has destroyed my life.”
Tragically, in September last year, Margaret, by now in her 50s, was found dead in her home.
Martyn and Kay Tott
The Totts got the shock of their lives when they realised they’d won £3million back in 2001 – six months after buying the ticket.
By the time they saw an appeal for the winner to come forward, they couldn’t find the ticket.
Computer records in their local Londis proved Kay really had purchased the ticket.
But a little-known rule stipulating that lost tickets must be reported within 30 days meant they would never receive the cash – eventually putting too much strain on their marriage and causing it to break down.
Meanwhile a fourth said: “This was a unique take on this. Seems like you’re a good kid! Hope you guys feel deserving of that. It wasn’t accidental. Chosen for a reason!”
“I’m glad you stayed down to earth and humble and yes you deserve it,” claimed a fifth.
Someone else added: “You were raised really well. Feeling somewhat guilty for having is so human.”
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