A 39-year-old builder who won £1 million on a scratchcard was rushed to hospital after quitting his job and partying for three months. Adam Lopez, from Norfolk, was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism after a blood clot moved from his leg to his lungs.
Lopez spent nine days in Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, unable to walk or breathe. He said: 'I knew what I was doing was going to come to an end eventually, and it nearly came to an end in the worst possible way. It was a massive, massive wake-up call.'
The father described the moment he was taken away by ambulance: 'I rang the ambulance, I got wheeled into the ambulance from my house and the biggest life-changing thing I had, was laying in the back of that ambulance and hearing the sirens. It just makes you look at both sides of life because it doesn't matter if you have a million, 100 million, a billion, a trillion - when you're in the back of the ambulance, none of it matters.'
Lopez said he regretted quitting his job because he lost his routine and felt disconnected from his former life. He won the money in March after buying a scratchcard while picking up a drink. He initially put the winning card in his glovebox, stunned into silence.
After confirming the win with the National Lottery, he saw his bank balance jump from £12.40 to £1,000,012.40. His mother was 'over the moon' with excitement. Lopez now plans to use his winnings more wisely and focus on his health.
