The Youngest Winners in Lottery History

The Youngest Winners in Lottery History! We have all heard about those die-hard lottery fans who never miss a draw of their favorite lotto game, play their lucky numbers and have all sorts of theories on the topic. But, how often is it that we see a young lottery winner? This may have something to do with statistics, and maybe young people just don’t play the lottery so often, but there are a few amongst us to whom Lady Luck has smiled really early in life.

1. Callie Rogers

By a wild twist of fate, a 16-year-old foster care child became UK’s youngest lottery winner back in 2003, when she pocketed £1.9 million. Callie behaved as predicted: quit her £3.60-an-hour job as a Co-op checkout girl, splashed money on all sorts of things, including two boob jobs, luxury holidays, designer clothes, expensive gifts to current and ex-boyfriends, not to mention cocaine. The only two sane investments she made were a £180,000 bungalow and a £76,000 home for her mother.

After 10 years of hard partying and not-so-wise decisions that lead to a suicide attempt, Callie was broke, but at peace with herself. Looking back, she thinks the win came too early in her life, but the experiences that followed helped her become a stronger woman. Mother-of-three now, she got to know the value of money and she is raising her children in this spirit.

2. Jane Park

Here is a name that has recently made headlines in a big way, but this time not for a win. UK’s youngest EuroMillions winner, Jane Park has a similar story to Callie Rogers’. Her win came when she was only 17, on the first EuroMillions ticket she had ever bought.

Now 21 years old, Jane has made a series of unprofitable real estate investments, splurged out on luxury cars and other expensive items, got several boob jobs and continued gambling. In 2015, she was summoned to court for drunk driving, and more recently, she threatened to sue the UK National Lottery holding them accountable for all the misfortunes that happened to her since the win.

3. Tracey Makin

Her story dates from the year 1998 when 16-year-old Tracey Makin scooped €1 million in the Irish Lottery. The teenage lottery winner was working in a supermarket at the time of the win. The first thing that popped into her mind when she found out she hit the jackpot was that she will “never need to work again”.

Although this was not her first lottery ticket ever, as in Jane Park and Callie Rogers’ case, beginner’s luck seems to have played an important role here too: Tracey was playing the lottery for the third time in her life. Her after-the-win story is also different from the previously mentioned lucky women. Tracey listened to her parents’ advice and invested most of her winnings wisely.

4. Robert Salo

When it comes to winning the lottery, we always think about a huge windfall worth millions that changes your life forever…for the better for the worse. This is not the case for Robert Salo – a Brooklyn boy who won a different type of lottery jackpot. Instead of getting his millions altogether, Robert won $1000 a week for the rest of his life.

Back in 2012, just one week before graduation, he bought a $2 Win for Life scratch ticket from a Coney Island gas station on a whim. 18 years old at the time of the win, he was reportedly Win for Life’s youngest winner. His plans include buying a brand new BMW and getting the college education he has always dreamed of.

5. Jay Vargas

The 19-year-old construction worker Jonathan Vargas hit it big in 2008, when he pocketed the $35.3 million US Powerball jackpot. While this was one of his dreams come true, it seems that not all of his dreams were supposed to.

This is what Jay Vargas was not aware of. The sudden and unexpected windfall pushed him into a life of hard-partying, drugs and alcohol. He made lots of bad investments, including his own female-only wrestling show “Wrestlicious” that predictably tanked at the box-office.

Want to follow in their footsteps? Well, maybe not in every aspect of it. Anyway, the first step is to play! Now it’s all very easy! On theLotter.co.za, you can play world lotto online! You have access to weekly draws and lottery prizes from different corners of the planet.

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