I’m much happier since I lost all my £1.9m lottery cash
IT’S the life-changing moment most people dream about – scooping a lottery windfall.
But Britain’s youngest winner Callie Rogers says her £1.87million win made her miserable and she is glad it is now gone.
Miss Rogers was only 16 and living in foster care when she won the massive sum in 2003.
She immediately gave up her £3.60-anhour checkout job and moved into her own home, but her life quickly spiralled out of control.
She eventually blew all the money on drugs – including a £250,000 cocaine bill – as well as breast enlargements and £300,000 of designer clothes.
Miss Rogers, now 31, also handed at least £500,000 to family and friends, only later realising some ‘used’ her for cash.
She became so depressed she even tried to take her life.
The mother of three yesterday said she is ‘so much happier’ since she lost the cash – and called for the age limit for buying lottery tickets to be increased from 16 to 18.
She said: ‘I just wish I’d been older. At 16 you are still just a child and overnight you’ve got to grow up and become an adult, which is very difficult.’
Within days of her win Miss Rogers, of Cockermouth, Cumbria, met Nicky Lawson – now father of her two oldest children – and moved into a new £180,000 bungalow with him.
She blew £250,000 on cocaine during their relationship and struggled to work out exactly who her real friends were.
She said: ‘There were people who came along after I won the lottery that weren’t in my life before and aren’t in my life now. There were a lot of false people involved. I didn’t realise because I wanted everyone to like me. The money brought problems with family and friends.’
Explaining why she attempted suicide, she told ITV’s This Morning: ‘It just became too much to cope with … all the stress of having the money. I wanted to go back to having a normal, quiet life.
‘Not knowing who loved me for me and who was using me and who I could trust … Still, at 31, I have trust issues.’
She admitted she failed to listen to advisers from lottery organisers Camelot.
‘At 16 you are still a child, you’ve no understanding of money, the capacity of it and what it brings,’ she said. ‘Camelot kind of gave me support at the beginning but at 16 you don’t want to listen. You do not understand about investments or what’s best to do.’
Miss Rogers previously said: ‘It was too much money for someone so young. Even if you say your life won’t change, it does – and often not for the better. It nearly broke me.’
She is now in a steady relationship and a carer for her youngest son, six-year-old Blake, who has cerebral palsy.
Her calls to increase the age limit were echoed by Britain’s youngest EuroMillions winner, who this year said she was planning legal action against lottery bosses for negligence.
Jane Park, from Edinburgh, who won £1million at 17, said: ‘I thought it would make [life] ten times better but it’s made it ten times worse. People look at me and think, “I wish I had her lifestyle, I wish I had her money”. They don’t realise the extent of my stress... 18 should be the minimum age for winning.’
Culture Minister Tracey Crouch has already confirmed the Government is reviewing the age limit of 16, which could be raised when the licence is reviewed in five years’ time.
A spokesman for Camelot said: ‘Callie received extensive support. Callie unfortunately didn’t take up the independent financial and legal advice offered. The door remains open.’
She added that the age limit was set when the lottery was launched in 1994, but stressed that Camelot would be ‘actively participating’ in the Government’s licence review.
‘Too much money for someone so young’