One woman won the lottery using the numbers of her deceased mother. However, she misplaced her ticket and ended up searching through all the boxes to locate it.
Kelly Firth (44) would regularly buy Carol’s Lotto Hotpicks tickets for her mother every week from the shop she frequented in West Halifax. This was before Carol, who died last year at 65.
Kelly didn’t play the lottery herself, but months later she found her mother’s numbers, 7, 17 and 37, written on a card while later clearing out her flat and decided to play them at the shops.
After purchasing numbers on Wednesday and Saturday, her numbers failed to come up in the first draw. She ripped the ticket open and then threw the whole thing away.
Three numbers were drawn on Saturday, and she was shocked.
Kelly believed it to be a sign from Carol and she was cheering on Carol and shouting at her ashes when Tina Turner’s song, “You’re Simply Amazing”, came on.
Kelly, grandmother-of-4 had to go through her apartment’s communal bins looking for the pieces of her old tickets.
The shop accepted the taped-together ticket and she bagged her £1,600 prize, which she used to take her family on a holiday to Blackpool.
Kelly Firth (right), was overjoyed to have won the lottery. She found the regular numbers of her late mother Carol (left) and decided that she wanted to play them.
Kelly, 44, (pictured holding an image of her mother) scooped £1,600 by using the same numbers as her mother did before she died in 2021
Kelly found her mother Carol’s (pictured) numbers, 7, 17 and 37, months after she died written on a card while clearing her flat later and decided to play them
Kelly, a full-time mother of two, is from West Halifax. She said that she still cannot believe how much she won when her numbers were called.
‘My daughter would take me to the shop every week so she could win the lottery.
“She gave me the same number of numbers as her little card, but she always reminded me to write both sides.
“We’ve done the same things for Mum for years but she has never won.
“I chose to keep them in my memory of Mum.
“I placed two of her tickets on the two-month anniversary of her death in my local store and purchased two more for Saturday’s Lotto Hotpicks draw.
“I was shocked to win when my mum didn’t, but I knew that she was there looking out for me as the numbers rose.
“I’m still stunned and I will continue to be shocked. This was my mum’s sign and it’s still hard to believe.
Carol died May 20, 2021 after a series of health problems.
She played numbers 7-17 and 37 every week. The machine generated the number on her ticket.
Carol did this two times, creating sets almost identical to each other and placing them in the Wednesday and Saturday draw.
Kelly was delighted to win, shouting at Carol’sashes (pictured) and celebrating when Tina Turner’s song, “You’re Simply my Best”, came on the airwaves.
Kelly stated that she spent the winnings for a trip to Blackpool with her family and believed her mother would love to hear about how her numbers brought her joy.
Kelly said, “While I was watching Saturday’s TV show on Saturday night I recognized my mom’s numbers. However, I already had the tickets cut up and dumped them.
‘My heart dropped. “My heart dropped. I was jumping with joy, telling my mum that we won, but then I panicked.
“I only had my black bin out, so I grabbed the big one outside and dug out all the black binliners. Then I looked through them until I finally found the tickets. Luckily the barcode was still there.
“I shouted to Mum that we had won. I turned on the radio to celebrate and my favourite song, which I sang at her funeral, was playing.
“It only confirmed that mom was really there. It was unbelievable.
Kelly brought her torn tickets to the local shop, where an assistant put them together before she handed over the money.
The winnings were used to pay for a trip to Blackpool with the family. She believes that her mother would be proud to have seen how her numbers brought her joy.
Kelly shared the following: Kelly says she took her family on a short trip to Blackpool using winnings. Demi (26), and my four grandchildren, Harley (10), Coby Jay (8), Addison Rio (5), and Kylan (44) all went.
“My mother loved Blackpool, and it was a special place for me to make many memories.
Mum was my best friend. She is missed every day. It was as if she were still with us.
“She certainly looked down upon us. “All I knew was she was there, taking care of her family.”