University student Rachel Kennedy couldn't believe it when her numbers came up on a EuroMillions draw for an £182million jackpot.
The 19-year-old, from Hertfordshire, called her mum and boyfriend Liam McCrohan, 21, into the room, with the trio envisioning how the teen's life would change.
But a call to lottery bosses Camelot quickly killed the dream and business undergraduate Rachel was left "absolutely heartbroken".
Her account only had £2.50 in it, so the ticket was not automatically bought prior to the draw as it usually was.
However, a glitch had sent her an alert the following day declaring her the winner.
The numbers she'd used with Liam for five weeks in a row - 6, 12, 22, 29, 33, 6 and 11 - had been drawn on February 26, 2021, but there was nothing that could be done.
The ticket hadn't gone through.
After Rachel went public with the devastatingly unlucky close call, Camelot wished her "the best of luck in future draws".
The teenager told The Sun: "I called the number thinking that I had won £182million and they said 'yeah you've got the right numbers but you didn't have the funds in your account for the payment of the ticket so it didn't actually go through'.
"I was on top of the world when I thought I had won, but when I found out I hadn't, Liam was actually more upset than me."
Having checked her account, she was initially greeted with a message saying her numbers were a "winning match".
However, her heart had sank when she realised the glitch soon after, she recalled.
In March last year, a spokesman for Camelot added: "We're aware of Rachel's story and hope she gets in early to buy a ticket for the next big draw."
ITV chat show host Lorraine Kelly urged her viewers at the time to "spare a thought" for Rachel.
"Oh, oh oh. Jeez. Spare a thought for them. It is a tough one, isn't it? Yes. That is definitely a tough one," she said.
Earlier this month, meanwhile, a grandmother became a EuroMillions winner for just 10 minutes but is now back to living in a mouldy flat.
Margaret De Micheli, 72, thought she had won the life-changing £34million jackpot after belatedly checking her lottery tickets.
After purchasing a EuroMillions ticket for the March 29 draw, she went to the Post Office to check her results and was given a slip by the shopkeeper to confirm she had won the mega jackpot.
However, after being advised to check the numbers one more time at a nearby Tesco in Swiss Cottage, north London, she was given some heartbreaking news.
