The leader of a syndicate that claimed the €381,863 EuroMillions jackpot hours before deadline said that they knew there was an unclaimed prize for a couple of weeks before checking their ticket.
After waiting for 90 days to check their winning ticket, the very relieved syndicate from Co. Cork dropped into National Lottery headquarters to collect their cheque today.
They matched five numbers and a Lucky Star on Friday, May 6, with their Quick Pick ticket bought on the day of the draw in Tesco in the Market Green Shopping Centre in Midleton, Co. Cork.
An extensive media awareness campaign brought the unclaimed prize to the attention of the lucky syndicate, which provided evidence of the winning ticket on deadline day.
Members of the syndicate later attended the National Lottery’s offices to officially validate it.
The syndicate leader said: “It has been a very busy couple of days for all of us in the syndicate and it is a lot to take in.
“For the last couple of weeks, we have all heard the reports in the media but I never thought that it would be our ticket. Some of the members of the syndicate kept asking me to check all of our tickets and when I finally checked the ticket on Thursday, I just could not believe our luck.”
The syndicate leader described how he realised that he had just hours to claim the €381,863 EuroMillions prize after checking his ticket.
He said: “I checked the ticket in the Tesco store, where it was purchased. Initially, I thought we had two days left to claim the prize but the person who checked my tickets told me to contact the National Lottery as the deadline was only hours away.
“I made the phone call straight away and confirmed all of the details with them over the phone before we made our way up to National Lottery headquarters later that evening.
“We would like to sincerely thank the National Lottery and the media for the media awareness campaign which was absolutely instrumental in us claiming our prize. I don’t think I would be allowed to run the syndicate again if I missed out on the deadline.”
