Norwich forklifter driver quits job after £1m scratchcard win

A forklift driver who quit his job after winning £1m on a scratchcard says he believes his late father had something to do with the windfall.

Adam Lopez, 39, from Norwich, bought five scratchcards from a corner shop in Hellesdon and discovered he had won the top prize with the final one.

Mr Lopez said he “bruised my arm pinching myself” and has since quit his job and bought both himself and his mother a new car.

He said he was visited in his dreams by his father, who died eight years ago, and “in some ways this win has come from him”.

Mr Lopez said he had been on his way to see friends when he popped into the shop on Reepham Road to buy a handful of scratchcards.

After winning on the National Lottery Millionaire Maker scratchcard, which costs £5, he sat in his car for an hour savouring the moment, with the ticket hidden away in the glovebox.

“It was the biggest surprise I’ve ever had on a scratchcard, £1m… I’ll never forget the moment,” he said.

He said he watched the balance on his bank account go from £12.40 to £1,000,012.40.

Mr Lopez said he was visited in his dreams by his father, and had asked him to let him prove that “money won’t ruin me”.

“I think in some ways this win has come from him. So, when I treated myself to my dream car, I knew I had to make mum’s dream come true too,” he said.

“It’s life-changing…. the £1m has allowed me to do everything to change my life for the better and set opportunities up to allow me to carry on in life – to write my own story.”

Mr Lopez has previously taken part in fundraising events, including in 2023 when he attempted to break the world record for the fastest time recorded running a mile in a swimming pool.

He ran 63 lengths of a 25m (82ft) pool to raise money in aid of a five-year-old girl with spinal muscular atrophy.

He said he wanted to go public about his win because the National Lottery gave about £30m of funding to projects each week.

“To be able to give back by going public… I’m thinking about the bigger picture… to carry on that momentum of the fundraising,” said Mr Lopez.