How a woman’s spider encounter led to $7 million lottery win

A UK grandmother has become an overnight millionaire, winning a $7 million Lotto prize soon after a superstitious encounter.

Doris Stanbridge, who had just celebrated her 70th birthday, will receive $20,000 every month for the next 30 years after winning the Set For Life grand prize.

Stanbridge said she usually enters Lotto each Saturday, however, an unusual encounter with a spider prompted her to also enter the Set For Life draw on a Thursday.

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“I was out in the kitchen when I felt something tickle my arm. I looked down and it was a money spider crawling off my hand,” Stanbridge told The National Lottery.

“I flicked it off, went into the conservatory and there was another one.”

Superstition says a money spider crawling on you means financial gain, so Stanbridge decided to try her luck.

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Stanbridge, who celebrated her 70th the night before her big win, said she was casually “going through her emails” when she noticed one from The National Lottery.

“I rushed round to my son-in-law, who lives next door. I knocked on the door and practically shoved my phone in his face and asked him if it said what I thought it had said,” she said.

Doris Stanbridge, 70, and her husband Keith toast her win. Credit: National Lottery

“He logged on to his National Lottery app and said ‘Yes those are the numbers, there was one winner, and it’s you!’

“The win means we won’t have to worry about our finances, and we can help out my girls … (husband) Keith wants to see Shania Twain, so that’s on the bucket list.”

Stanbridge said while it seems a “bit strange” at her age to be receiving the win in increments over the next 30 years, it “gives her a reason to be around until she’s 100”.

In the event of her death, the balance of the winnings will be paid out to her heirs.

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