A dream for many people is to hit the lottery and instantly become rich. It doesn’t happen very often and the odds of it happening to you are off the charts, but it does happen on occasion.
One young man who won the lottery and was as surprised as anyone else is James Clarkson. The 20-year-old woke up as the luckiest man in England, realizing that the lotto jackpot had just been his for the taking.
Currently, he is working in Carlisle, Cumbria as a training gas engineer. Just this year in 2025, he hit the first national lottery and picked the winning numbers for the first draw on January 4.
He walked away with £7,533,329.
He selected 16, 19, 22, 24, 27 and 35 at random on that day, not knowing that it would be the perfect choice. He had already won £120 on a Christmas Day lotto draw, also with three lines of randomly selected numbers.
Not only is Clarkson happy about his winnings, his family is excited for him as well. There is one, however, who may not be in his corner quite so much.
On January 5, he woke up to learn that he had won the lottery and he was staying at his girlfriend’s house at the time. He woke his girlfriend from sleep to tell her the news, but she didn’t believe him and turned over to fall asleep again.
Clarkston then called his father, who was awake, and went home to check to ensure the win was legitimate.
He recalled that day, saying: “I was at my girlfriend’s house and got up early to check on the snowfall when I saw a message saying I’d won on the National Lottery app.
“I opened it straight away but couldn’t see anything to begin with; then I scrolled down and saw I’d matched all six main Lotto numbers to hit the jackpot and that my prize amount was £7,533,329! I just didn’t believe it! I thought I was dreaming!”
After going back home to his parents and older brother, he waited until the national lottery line opened. He was ready to claim his winnings and he would spend the rest of the day visiting friends and family before having a dinner at his grandparents with champagne.
Some people would consider this to be a life-changing event, but Clarkson didn’t feel as if his life would change right away. On Monday morning he was working with his father doing some property maintenance.
“I was out in the cold fixing blocked drains the day after I found out I had won. It was a bit grim but that’s reality. I’m not going to stop working, I’m too young. I want to qualify as a heating engineer and then go from there. I need to have a purpose in life, plus dad wouldn’t let me not work anyway!
“I know people might think I’m mad to still work but I want to and, of course, there’ll be some nice holidays in between.”
As of now, he has booked an all-inclusive trip to Cape Verde and purchased some designer items for himself and his girlfriend. He did admit: “I’m not really a fan of shopping, it’s not my idea of fun but a new car, that would be massive! If you drive a cold work van all day, going from job to job, you’d understand.”
He also plans on getting season tickets for his family, as he is a Manchester City fan. He goes to games when possible at this point.
Ultimately, he would want to share the winnings with his family and wants to pay off his parent’s mortgage. He said: “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, it’s what I want to do. I told them last night and they seemed really overwhelmed.
“We are close and they have always been there for me. This win isn’t just for me, I want to make sure we all benefit.”
