The cautionary tale of Callie Rogers: Lottery win led to despair
Callie Rogers was the talk of almost all Britons years ago. That's because she became the youngest person to win the National Lottery in the United Kingdom. The astronomical sum—nearly €2.3 million—did not bring her happiness.
7 September 2024 19:02
Callie Rogers, the youngest winner of the National Lottery in the United Kingdom, learned firsthand that winning isn't necessarily a guarantee of happiness. In 2003, at just 16 years old, her account was filled with a cosmic amount of £1.875 (€2.22) million. Today, she has nothing left from that nearly €2.3 million.
She lost nearly €2.3 million
The Brit explains that she was "too young" for such a huge amount of money, leading to many problems. She struggled with depression and even attempted to take her own life. Instead of luxury, the win brought her stress and a broken heart. For almost 20 years, she spent a fortune on parties, branded clothes, and plastic surgeries, of which just the breast enlargement cost her €19,000.
There were also legal troubles. In 2018, she was beaten by two women. Earlier, she was involved in a car accident while under the influence of cocaine. At that time, she was banned from driving.
The millionaire didn't have it easy
The fortune attracted fake friends who only wanted her money. Callie often appealed to the government to raise the age at which one could participate in the lottery. In this way, she tried to protect young people from going through what she did. Today, with the age to play the lottery raised to 18 years, Callie still warns against the harmful effects of a massive win at a young age.
In an interview for ITV's "This Morning" programme, she spoke about her struggles with trust issues.
Not knowing who liked me for me, and having all the stress of all the money, I just wanted to go back to having a normal life. I still struggle with trust issues, she confessed.
What's new with Callie Rogers?
Even though she lost everything and now leads a "normal life," she finally feels at peace. She is currently studying to become a nurse. She managed to regain balance in her life but still struggles with the consequences of the whole country hearing about her win and that she squandered it.
Overnight, I went from a carefree child to an adult. All these years on, it still gets dragged up. Even when I go for job interviews, I am thinking about it. I suffer from such bad anxiety when I am going to meet new people. It preys on my mind what a new partner's family will think of me or even new friends. I still get abuse just because of who I am, she said in the same interview.
Do money really not bring happiness?
