Lottery Winner Got a Wake-Up Call 3 Months Later

A $1.3 million lottery winner in England is rethinking what really matters after a wild spending spree followed by a health crisis. Adam Lopez, a 39-year-old forklift driver, saw his bank account balloon from less than $20 in July, courtesy of a cluster of scratch-off tickets, per People. He didn't waste time in pulling out his newly fat wallet, checking off a wish list that included high-end Range Rovers for himself and his mom, and a family vacation to sun-drenched Barbados. He even quit his job, which he now admits was a mistake. "I lost the structure to my life and day to day living," he tells the BBC. "It was a complete disconnect from the life I was living."

After three months of revelry, Lopez's lucky streak took a dramatic turn. He landed in the hospital with a pulmonary embolism after a blood clot traveled from his leg to his lungs. "I couldn't walk, I couldn't breathe," he tells the BBC, reflecting that the ambulance ride was more life-changing than any jackpot. Now, after an eight-day hospital stay and with months of recovery still to come, Lopez says he's dialing down the extravagance, focusing on his health, and trying to regain a sense of normal. "It just makes you look at both sides of life," he muses—a reminder that millionaire or not, no one's immune to a wake-up call.