- Adam Lopez, 39, won Rs 17 crore on a Michigan scratch-off lottery ticket
- Lopez quit his job and spent months travelling, buying cars, and partying
- He was hospitalised with bilateral pulmonary embolism after health issues
A Michigan man who won over Rs 17 crore, about $1.3 million, on a scratch-off lottery ticket had to be admitted to the hospital after weeks of non-stop partying and health issues.
Forklift driver Adam Lopez, 39, bought a ticket at a convenience store on a whim and hit the jackpot. At first, he found it difficult to believe his good fortune, but after verifying the victory with his mother, it became apparent that his life had changed, BBC reported.
Lopez chose to put a significant part of his winnings into savings, saying he wanted to protect his future rather than indulge carelessly. Soon, it all changed.
The man from Wayne County, Michigan, quit his job and spent around three months travelling, buying fancy cars, and partying endlessly.
In September, Lopez was hospitalised when his lifestyle caught up with him due to a bilateral pulmonary embolism, a dangerous disease in which a clot in his leg spread to his lungs, according to The New York Post.
He described the experience as a "massive wake-up call" and said that he "could not walk, could not breathe" during his more than eight days at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in England.
"I think I went the wrong way about it, but it has allowed me to live a little bit of a life I have never lived. It was enjoyable until my health became an issue," Lopez said.
Lopez referred to the experience as a "kick up the backside." He explained, "It became apparent about three weeks ago... with a blood clot in my leg which spread to my lungs."
"I rang the ambulance, I got wheeled into the ambulance from my house, and the greatest life-changing thing I had was lying in the back of that ambulance and hearing the sirens," he recalled.
The 39-year-old said he intended to be "back to the full version of me" at the end of his six to nine months of recovery, which will involve prioritising his health.
"It simply makes you look at both sides of life because it does not matter if you have a million, 100 million, a billion, a trillion - when you are in the back of the ambulance, none of it matters," he said.
