Man wins $1.3M from lottery, ends up in hospital, has wake-up call

• A forklift driver won $1.3 million from the UK National Lottery
• He was down to his last $17 when good fortune struck
• What ensued was a wild partying lifestyle that landed him in the hospital

A British man was down to his last few pounds when he bought a bunch of lottery tickets and decided to try his luck one last time. As fate and extraordinary good fortune would have it, he ended up scooping the equivalent of $1.3m from the National Lottery in the United Kingdom.

Adam Lopez, who previously set a world record for running through a swimming pool in 2023, was immediately excited about his good luck, but instead of rationing or investing his money, he decided to do something different – he started partying non-stop.

Man scoops $1.3m lottery payout, quits job – ends up in hospital

His initial plans were to take care of loved ones and save for the future, but they proved too prosaic when Lopez found out that he could use the money to start enjoying life to its fullest. However, only a few months later, he ended up in the hospital on September 10, 2025.

He was rushed with a pulmonary embolism and thankfully made a full recovery, but the incident had served as a "wake-up call" to him and reminded him that there are more important things in life. Indeed, it was great fun riding the metaphorical party train until Lopez suddenly found himself unable to walk or breathe.

While it is unclear how much of the money was spent on partying and if Lopez was able to save any, commenting on his health accident, Lopez added, "It’s allowed me to live a bit of a life I’ve never lived, but I think I went the wrong way about it. It was enjoyable until my health became an issue."

He would do it differently now

He also reflected on his near-death experience and said that money hardly matters to a person who ends up in the back of an ambulance, whether they are a millionaire or a billionaire. The forklift driver regrets some of the decisions he made early in securing the jackpot money.

"I left my job, and I never should have done that. I lost the structure to my life and day-to-day living. It was a complete disconnect from the life I was living," he added.

The man is now focused on getting his life back on track, and hard partying is not on the bucket list any longer.

Image credit: Unsplash.com