DOUBLE LUCK
I only entered draw after daughter’s £26k win… hours later I scooped £1,000s – we didn’t even know what it was
The mother-daughter duo say they're still coming to grips with their luck
A MUM was shocked to scoop thousands in a draw after only entering because her daughter had won £26,000.
Alexandra Maria Dinu, 28, and mum Violeta Cristian, 50, both won prizes worth a combined £35,000 within hours of each other.
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The family members, from Stoke-on-Trent, both scooped luxury watches in the same competition.
Warehouse worker Alexandra, who was first to enter, won an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore watch - a favourite of celebrities Justin Bieber and Will Smith worth a whopping £26,000.
Inspired by her daughter’s success in the contst run by online competitions company BOTB, Violeta decided to have a go.
Hours later she found out that she had won a Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch worth £9,000.
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The watch has previously been worn by Tyson Fury and Sylvester Stallone.
Both Alexandra and Violeta, who live in the Potteries, said they were planning to take the cash alternative.
Alexandra told : “The fact that we both won is absolutely crazy and we’re so excited.
"I didn’t believe it when it popped up to say I had won, and I had to check with my husband to make sure. I didn’t even know what the prize was initially.
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"I know nothing about watches and had no idea what it was worth."
She continued: "When I told my mum I had won, she said she wanted to enter and bought some tickets.
"It was the first time she had entered, and I told her it was very unlikely that she would win as well.
"When she found out she was so excited and woke me up to share the news. I couldn't believe it!”
Alexandra said that she was looking to buy a property, so the money will come in very handy for that.
I won £1million Euromillions prize but I thought I'd got nothing when call handler put me on hold - my heart SANK
She added: “My mum wants to do some home improvements and she’s been experiencing some health difficulties, so she’ll use the money to get treatment and help make her day-to-day life a little easier."
BOTB presenter Christian Williams only found out they were related when he caught up with Violeta via a video call.
Finding Alexandra on the other end of the phone he said: “A huge congratulations to both for winning these stunning watches.
“I’m usually the one surprising all of our winners with their amazing prizes, but this time it was me who was left in shock when I discovered they were related.
If ever there was a case of ‘like mother, like daughter’, this was it!”
BOTB hands over the keys to a car each week as well as a lifestyle prize.
Founded by William Hindmarch in 1999, it has given away £67m-worth of cars so far.
It comes after a woman who played lotto on her dead mum's numbers almost missed out on her winnings after ripping up and binning the ticket.
Kelly Firth, 44, and her daughter used to head out to the shop every week to buy her mum Carol's Lotto Hotpicks tickets.
The Yorkshire grandmother would hand them a card with her numbers on it and ask they enter her into the week's two draws.
TOP 5 BIGGEST LOTTERY WINS ACROSS THE WORLD
- £1.308 billion (Powerball) on January 13 2016 in the US, for which three winning tickets were sold, remains history’s biggest lottery prize
- £1.267 billion (Mega Million) a winner from South Carolina took their time to come forward to claim their prize in March 2019 not long before the April deadline
- £633.76 million (Powerball draw) from a winner from Wisconsin
- £625.76 million (Powerball) Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee, Massachusetts claimed the jackpot in August 2017
- £575.53 million (Powerball) A lucky pair of winners scooped the jackpot in Iowa and New York in October 2018
But after Carol died in 2021 Kelly forgot about the weekly tradition - until she found that card again.
Elsewhere, a mum-of-two has revealed the unconventional treat she splurged on after striking gold in the lottery.
Rachel De Oliveira scooped just short of £52,000 through a lottery syndicate of 10 people or couples.
Earlier this year a man told of how he scooped a life-changing £3.8million almost missed out on the cash after thinking the lotto email was a scam.
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Another told of how he was close to losing a £166,000 Postcode Lottery win - after scooping the jackpot just hours before he moved house.
One punter said she also almost missed out on £300,000 because of a silly Lotto app blunder.
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