What would you do if you won a very large amount of money in the lottery? Almost everyone has probably thought about what they would do with their life if money suddenly stopped playing a role.
The strangest videos. (Scroll down to the article.)
Would you retire to the country in a beautiful house, grow flowers and raise children? Would you travel the world and visit every place you always wanted to see? Or would you just celebrate as much as you can and indulge yourself completely in hedonism?
When Mickey Carroll, a 38-year-old man from Moray, Scotland, bought a lottery ticket for £ 1 on a whim in November 2002, he was just 19 years old.
Back then, Mickey was working part-time at the garbage disposal and didn’t even have his own bank account. His girlfriend Sandra Aitken was seven months pregnant. The sudden change hit his life all the harder when he won – exactly 9,736,131 pounds (almost 11,122,000 euros).
Sandra and the lottery winner got married quickly, but Mickey quickly developed some habits that no marriage would be able to withstand. His life soon consisted of parties, alcohol, drugs and visits to brothels. Sandra filed for divorce in 2003.
The next 10 years passed in the truest sense of the word as if in a frenzy. Soon the lottery winner was drinking two bottles of vodka a day, consuming large amounts of cocaine and squandering his fortune on parties, expensive cars and prostitutes. Finally, his financial advisor warned him he was down to his last million. In between, Mickey Carroll ended up in jail for fights and assault.
He almost never visited his daughter Brooke, even when his ex-wife tried not to let him disappear from their child’s life. When Brooke was hospitalized in 2004 with dangerous meningitis, Mickey preferred to spend his time racing than visiting her. Sandra moved in with Brooke, two other children, and her new partner a few years later.
In 2013 he was broke, no longer had his own apartment and, due to his miserable reputation, could not find work until a factory and later a slaughterhouse hired him. Today he delivers coal and works seven days a week.
“I was an alcoholic, I’m lucky I’m still alive. If I hadn’t run out of money, I would definitely not be alive anymore, “says Mickey. He does not regret the time of his excesses and calls it “the best 10 years of his life”.
The life that Mickey Carroll leads now is exhausting and humble, but he likes it very much. Mickey now considers money to be the “root of all evil”, but still sometimes buys a lottery ticket.
What would the former lottery millionaire do if he won again? “Buy a house and travel for a while.”
Thumbnail: © Facebook / สุภ กิจ สุภ กิจ