Hungarian Homeless Man Scoops Record Jackpot

A homeless man in Hungary won a record £1.7 million on the lottery after spending his last few coins on a ticket. Now he has promised to use the winnings to help addicts and abused women.

László Andraschek won Hungary’s biggest ever jackpot after buying a ticket at a railway station on his way to Budapest for a workshop for recovering alcoholics.
After winning he said, “I had only picked six numbers and the female shop assistant reminded me that I needed to pick a seventh. I told her to make it 24 – it doesn’t matter anyway.”

The first thing Andraschek did was repay his debts and buy a car for his three children. “When the car salesman asked me how much I would be willing to spend I held up three fingers. As I had arrived on a bike he assumed this meant 300,000 forints, but actually I meant 3 million.”

He went on to explain that a large amount of the winnings will be used to set up a foundation for addicts and women abused by their husbands. Andraschek actually won last September but kept the win a secret until he had made a donation to a hostel for the homeless this month.