Britain's youngest EuroMillions winner planning to sue lottery for 'ruining' her life

Feb 14, 2017, 9:36 am (69 comments)

After the Big Win

Britain's youngest EuroMillions lottery winner has revealed she is planning to take legal action against the lottery for negligence.

Jane Park, who won £1 million (US$1.25 million) at the age of 17, said winning the windfall had "ruined" her life and she often thought things would have been better if she had never won.

Ms Park, now 21, argued that someone of her age should not have been allowed to win such a substantial sum of money. She said 18 should be the minimum age for winning the lottery and suggested the current limit of 16 was too young.

She said she had become bored of relentless consumption and felt like it failed to offered long-term genuine happiness. Before winning the lottery, Ms Park, who now owns two properties, worked as an admin temp for £8 an hour and lived in a small flat with her mum in Edinburgh.

"I thought it would make it 10 times better but it's made it 10 times worse. I wish I had no money most days. I say to myself, 'My life would be so much easier if I hadn't won'," she told the Sunday People.

"People look at me and think, 'I wish I had her lifestyle, I wish I had her money.' But they don't realise the extent of my stress. I have material things but apart from that my life is empty. What is my purpose in life?"

"I think 18 should be the minimum age for winning the lottery, at the least. The current age of 16 is far too young."

Despite the fact that Camelot, which runs EuroMillions in the UK, appointed an adviser to help Ms Park deal with her newly accumulated wealth, she said it was family advice that helped her keep her spending in check.

"I've read about other lottery winners who've just blown it all and I can totally see how it can be done," she said. "I was stuck in front of a financial adviser who was using words like investment bonds. I had no clue what they meant."

Ms Park said it was unsettling how differently her life had turned out from her friends, making her feel isolated.

"It's scary how different my life is from my friends'. When they say they're stressed about the money they mean their wages are s***," she said. "There's no one in the same boat as me, no one who really understands. I feel like I'm a 40-year-old."

A spokesperson for Camelot told The Independent: "Camelot takes its duty of care to winners very seriously and all major winners are offered support and advice for as long as they wish. That support is tailored to each winner's situation and circumstances — and for younger winners, their age will obviously be an important factor in the advice and support offered. 

"Following her win, Jane received extensive support from Camelot," it continued. "A dedicated winners' adviser visited Jane at home to pay out her prize, arrange private banking and support her through the publicity when she chose to share news of her win.  An independent financial and legal panel was set up shortly after her win and we put Jane in touch with another winner who won at the same age, to share their experience and help Jane adjust to the win.

"We keep in contact with all major winners for as long as they wish and have been in touch with Jane from time to time since her win to offer ongoing support. Of course, it is always up to the winners themselves as to whether they want to take us up that ongoing support and advice — but the door is always open and we will continue to support Jane in any way we can if that is what decides she wants."

Camelot said the minimum age limit to play the lottery was an issue for Parliament to deal with.

"Anyone over the age of 16 can play the lottery, and therefore win a prize," they said in a statement. "Camelot doesn't set the age limit to play — this was agreed at the launch of the National Lottery back in 1994 and so any questions about the legal age to play would be a matter for Parliament."

While most who play the lottery fantasise about the moment of winning the jackpot, the reality of winning can be more complicated. There are numerous stories of lottery winners who have struggled to get used to quitting their jobs and becoming rich overnight. 

Callie Rogers, who was 16 and earning £3.60 an hour when she won a National Lottery jackpot worth £1,875,000 in 2003, struggled to adjust to her newfound wealth. She went on a spending spree and is reported to have tried to kill herself. 

Ironically, Rogers has said she is much happier now she has spent her fortune. "I don't think of myself as a lottery winner — I try to forget the ups and downs I've been through and just feel like a normal person," she explained in 2013.

"It was too much money for someone so young. Even if you say your life won't change, it does — and often not for the better."

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

Thanks to konane for the tip.

Independent

Comments

rcbbuckeye's avatarrcbbuckeye

Well, apparently she didn't follow the adviser's advise.

The best thing she could have done was invest that money, kept a little each month for play money, and kept her job. When she turned 40, then she could have retired.

My younger daughter is much the same. A snowflake, and doesn't follow advise very well. I love her more than the world, but I came to grips with the fact she has to learn on her own.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

OK...give it all back...or what ever is left and we'll call it even...you worthless ingrate !

Vickey

 that sounds stupid as hell give away the money if you don't want it no one told youto play them that need it cant win it now you want to cry what's wrong with you I got bill up a... Give I'll be very grateful

Teddi's avatarTeddi

Sooooo...she has a major issue with that much money being handed to her when she was ill-prepared on how to manage it, and her response is to sue the people who handed her that money, for more money. Were I the judge I'd dismiss the case on the grounds that she's still too stupid to benefit from another financial windfall.

 

She has money, why not spend some of it to go see a shrink to get over whatever her dumb_ss issues are?

 

She's not turning over her two properties to Camelot and blaming them for giving her the money to be able to purchase them, is she? No. She wants to keep the benefits of the win while suing a company for how awful it is to be young and rich. Yeah, okay. No Pity!

 

In 20 years she'll be suing the courts for not stopping her from making a fool of herself with this lawsuit. By then she'll understand why her current comments are the epitome of ignorance and ungratefulness.

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Dear Jane,

Look Within: Becoming A Mature And Responsible Adult Starts In Your Childhood with example and education and continues for the rest of your life. Welcome to Life's Lessons!

Redd55

This is silly. The company that runs the lottery went way out of their way to help her.  And her winnings are not that much. All she has to do is buy a house that will appreciate over time, buy some rental property and bank the rest. And she shd go to school or get a job.

Other articles say she has bought a house, designer handbags and implants. She has also gone on vacations and got herself a free loading boyfriend she just got rid of.

She appears to be addicted to attention and will say anything if it gets her in the news:  https://goo.gl/WZ2N7q

MADDOG10's avatarMADDOG10

Five will get you Ten, she is Now a registered democrat.!

lucky6025

it has nothing to do with age, alot of winners alot older have done stupid things with the money and have gone into dept after winning alot more than that.She could have jst put the money in bank account and still worked at same job and had that money for retirement.But like alot of people you take the money and go crazy not thinking of the future and then cry when it is all gone.Did she not read the stories about other winners and how it effects friends/family/relatives if you think age has anything to do with it, then you are wrong. Its the person, you could have made better decisions with this winning and lived happy, yet you blame them for not doing so. Well that was your problem and yours alone, so now live with it. Don't play the lottery or go to casino.

JADELottery's avatarJADELottery

really? Really? REALLY?

No, seriously, Reeeaaallly?

My eyes rolled so far up, I'm seeing the back of my skull.

MaximumMillions

Quote: Originally posted by Teddi on Feb 14, 2017

Sooooo...she has a major issue with that much money being handed to her when she was ill-prepared on how to manage it, and her response is to sue the people who handed her that money, for more money. Were I the judge I'd dismiss the case on the grounds that she's still too stupid to benefit from another financial windfall.

 

She has money, why not spend some of it to go see a shrink to get over whatever her dumb_ss issues are?

 

She's not turning over her two properties to Camelot and blaming them for giving her the money to be able to purchase them, is she? No. She wants to keep the benefits of the win while suing a company for how awful it is to be young and rich. Yeah, okay. No Pity!

 

In 20 years she'll be suing the courts for not stopping her from making a fool of herself with this lawsuit. By then she'll understand why her current comments are the epitome of ignorance and ungratefulness.

I agree she had no financial literacy and didn't work to change that.

If you don't now what investments bonds are ( as in no clue what they are, not not being able to rattle off a definition) then you should take that as a sign to make yourself knowledgeable.

And really, like someone else said,  it's not a huge amount. In Edinburgh I guess you can buy a property for yourself and buy another as investment for rental income. You would maybe have enough money left for a nice car and a few vacations, that's it! Hardly money to burn.

And then she complains about not having to struggle, really? Again, financial literacy, 1 million pounds don't last a life time. They gave her an advisor, they put her in touch with other winners, she's still doing well financially, what is her problem?

And if she wasn't ready to win at 16 she wouldn't have been ready at 18, 21 or 30 either.

amber123

Then why did she play in the first place? She has far worse issues than money, sounds like she needs mental help.

Teddi's avatarTeddi

Quote: Originally posted by MADDOG10 on Feb 14, 2017

Five will get you Ten, she is Now a registered democrat.!

5 will get you 10 that you'd get your knickers in a twist if someone made this comment about republicans, so why do it? What exactly do you think it accomplishes to make inflammatory comments which will only cause yet another thread to descend into yet another bickering match? What benefit is gained from doing it?

It really should not be that difficult for ANY adult here to simply stay on topic and keep it about the lottery

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by MADDOG10 on Feb 14, 2017

Five will get you Ten, she is Now a registered democrat.!

She is in Britain.  Not sure they have Republicans and Democrats over there....

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

welcome to the real world kiddio Boxing

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