Teen told to clean room, finds winning lottery ticket

Mar 5, 2012, 10:09 am (32 comments)

UK National Lottery

By Todd Northrop

A 19-year-old supermarket worker has let the world's teenagers down by proving that moms are usually right.

Not that Ryan Kitching should resent his mom's nagging too much — her constant badgering to tidy up his room led to a £50,000 windfall.

For two weeks Ryan of Penicuik, Midlothian resisted his mother Susan's requests to clear away the clutter in his bedroom.

"I had just got back from the gym and she wasn't even home at the time but I knew I'd be in trouble if I didn't clean it up," Ryan said. "There was loads of washing up which I hadn't put away and my Xbox games were lying everywhere."

So Ryan started cleaning up his room and discovered 12 old U.K. Lotto tickets in his drawer he thought he had already checked. At first, he thought that they should be bagged up and chucked out with the rest of his junk.

"But then I thought, 'I'm taking my mom shopping anyway — I'll get the numbers checked, it will do no harm.'"

Ryan went to the Tesco where he works part-time.

At the store, Ryan left the tickets at the shop's lottery kiosk with a co-worker and did some shopping. Then, his co-worker called Ryan back to the kiosk saying he had "won big". It was then he learned that he had five winning numbers along with the bonus ball — landing him with £52,981.

Winning 5 of 6 plus the bonus ball is second prize in the U.K. Lotto game.

Ryan yesterday said, "I am totally speechless — it was the happiest day of my life easily. My mom had been nagging me for weeks to tidy my room so I started cleaning up and found a pile of old tickets. I was about to [throw them away] but at the last minute I got this strange feeling that I should get them checked."

"Next time she nags me to tidy my room I won't need telling twice," he added.

Ryan's mom Susan, who works in the same Tesco as Ryan in Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, said, "I'm really [happy] for him. I'd be nagging him for weeks to clean his room. Hopefully, he'll listen to me next time."

Ryan bought the winning ticket at the Tesco store where he works part-time at the fish counter.

"I left the tickets with my friend at the kiosk while I went shopping with my mom, but he started shouting that he thought I had a big winner so I went to check," Ryan said. "When he put the winner through the machine it said it couldn't pay out because it was a high prize, so I knew I had won at least £500. But when I found out through Camelot that I had won nearly £53,000 I was over the moon."

His luck didn't end there either, as he won an extra £2.80 on a EuroMillions ticket, taking his lucky haul to £52,983.80.

Ryan said he had not worked out what he will use the money for yet but said his happy parents Susan and Raymond have suggested putting a deposit down on a house.

"It would take me four or five years to earn this amount of money and now I've got it all at once," Ryan said. "I'll probably put some down on a house and treat my mom and dad to a holiday. I already had a holiday booked to Gran Canaria and could only afford a week — but I think I'll be going for [two weeks] now."

Ryan also plans to help his younger brother Sean, 16, buy a car.

Despite looking forward to purchasing a house, Ryan isn't quite ready to move out of his parent's home.

"I don't want to move out just yet," Ryan said. "I still get my tea cooked here."

Big-hearted Ryan also has no intention of quitting his job or stopping volunteering for emergency medical aid charity First Response.

"It's a great charity and I'm planning on donating some of the winnings to them," he said.

Recently dumped by his girlfriend, Ryan said, gleefully, "She'll be sad she finished with me now, but I'm glad. At least I'll be able to enjoy the money for myself now and treat myself, for a change."

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

rad242

"I'm folding the laundry and checking my pockets as I write - lol!"

sully16's avatarsully16

Congrats to the lucky young man, enjoy your good fortune.

sidenote- Take Mom out or a nice dinner.

rad242

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Mar 5, 2012

Congrats to the lucky young man, enjoy your good fortune.

sidenote- Take Mom out or a nice dinner.

Steak and Lobster and make a cople of mortgage payments while you're at it chap!

dpoly1's avatardpoly1

I am going to check something in my room maybe LOL............ Woo Hoo ............... nice win!

Patriot

About $69,750,000 wire transfer for Pennsylvania's first Mega Millions Jackpot Winner ..........

$9,300,000 due for the rest of the Federal Taxes without any tax mitigation, leaving at least $60,450,000 in the bank ............... I might take a little vacation ............. and going "Green" with money!

loonasee2's avatarloonasee2

I thought he said he picked his room up.Not by the looks in the picture.lol

GOOD for you Ryan and clean the rest of your room,you never know.lol

NightStalker's avatarNightStalker

It's nice to see that his friend was honest as well. 

Congrats on the unexpected win!!

LottoGuyBC's avatarLottoGuyBC

well he's lucky the tickets wasn't already expired Lep

otherwise it could've been Bang Head        instead of White Bounce

Congrats on really cleanin' up Thumbs Up

New York's avatarNew York

Congrats young man. Please clean your room and invest in a vacuum cleaner lol. Or hire a maid lol.

gocart1's avatargocart1

Quote: Originally posted by New York on Mar 5, 2012

Congrats young man. Please clean your room and invest in a vacuum cleaner lol. Or hire a maid lol.

Congrats to the young man also...Hire a maid...is true...or just buy another house ever time the room getts messy

psykomo's avatarpsykomo

Quote: Originally posted by loonasee2 on Mar 5, 2012

I thought he said he picked his room up.Not by the looks in the picture.lol

GOOD for you Ryan and clean the rest of your room,you never know.lol

DanceI Agree!  with loonasee2:

Ryan, clean the rest of UR room>>>the gull's R moving INN!

Jester

HoLeeKau's avatarHoLeeKau

Oh my, and that photo was taken AFTER the room was cleaned.  Twitch

rad242

Quote: Originally posted by New York on Mar 5, 2012

Congrats young man. Please clean your room and invest in a vacuum cleaner lol. Or hire a maid lol.

For the maid to STEAL THE NEXT WINNING TICKET? I think notttttt - lol!

dk1421's avatardk1421

Quote: Originally posted by rad242 on Mar 5, 2012

For the maid to STEAL THE NEXT WINNING TICKET? I think notttttt - lol!

Funny, that was my second thought too!

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

And over there they don't tax lottery winnings. Here the government (federal and or state) takes a cut when you buy the lottery and then again taxes you if you win anything more than $600. Then the year after you win if you dont consult an accountant then you might have to fork over some more money when you file for income taxes. You're not yet done. If you buy things with your double taxed winnings you end up paying sales taxes. Taxes taxes taxes, wtf!

Subscribe to this news story