A man in the U.K. got an especially sweet surprise after winning more than $700,000 in the lottery — and he says it happened only because his young daughter wouldn’t let up about getting candy.
Valdet Bujupi, a 44-year-old father from Northern England, said he was on his way home from a day out with his 3-year-old daughter in October when she started lobbying hard for treats, according to a press release from the U.K.’s National Lottery.
“Our daughter is very persistent when it comes to sweets and, despite trying to stand firm, on the third ‘please daddy’ I caved in and headed into the shop,” he explained.
He’s “very pleased” that he did.
“If it hadn’t been for her sweet tooth, I wouldn’t have bought that Lucky Dip ticket,” he said.
Valdet said he later discovered he’d won $700,978 and immediately called his wife, Abbey — who, at the time, was cleaning their bathroom.
“I wasn’t impressed at having to take my rubber gloves off to answer the phone,” Abbey, 40, recalled, adding, “Valdet’s first words were, ‘Book [a trip to] New York. I’ve won the lottery!’ “
They shared the news with their 12-year-old son later that day, but the couple said he didn’t buy it at first.
“It was one of the craziest moments trying to convince him we had won the lottery,” Valdet said. “He thought it was a joke, and it was only when I showed him the win using the National Lottery app that he was willing to believe us.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(722x391:724x393):format(webp)/lottery-ticket-102425-6f59718148e74bb68f3138ee022091a6.jpg)
To celebrate, Valdet and Abbey took their kids to London — and they’re already looking ahead to an eventual family trip to New York.
“Coming to London makes it so special for the four of us, and it’s a wonderful way to remind us ‘life is sweet.’ Next stop is New York,” Valdet told the lottery.
Valdet said he and Abbey are also thinking about moving into a larger home, and they plan to send some of the money to his mother, who lives in Kosovo.
“I want to get her something to make her life a little bit easier. Being able to help my mum enjoy her older years means so much to us,” he said.
He also shared that he’d dreamed about winning the lottery just a month before it actually happened.
“I always believed you have to be in it to win it, and while I only played from time to time, a month ago I dreamt I won the National Lottery. Was that a premonition? I don’t know, but what I do know is that we’re all over the moon and our daughter, who was already daddy’s princess, has been promoted to Queen,” he said.
