At 46, David Lee Edwards' life was a far cry from the American Dream. A convicted armed robber, he had spent a significant chunk of his existence behind bars.
Broke and jobless, he managed to scrape together enough cash from a mate to cover a water bill, splurging the leftover dosh on a pizza and a couple of lottery tickets. In an incredible twist of fate, Edwards hit the jackpot, winning a mind-blowing $27 million.
At a press conference, with his then-girlfriend Shawna, aged 27, by his side, Edwards confessed to past blunders but vowed to be wise with his newfound wealth. He told the press pack: "You know, a lot of people, they're out of work. They don't hardly have anything, and so I don't want to accept this money by saying I'm going to get mansions and I'm going to get cars.
"I would like to accept it with humility. I want this money to last, for me, for my future wife, for my daughter, and future generations."
But those words would come back to haunt him as he became the poster boy for how not to handle a lottery win.
Kicking off his celebrations, he took out a £200,000 loan for a blowout in Sin City. Within less than a week, he was on the blower to his solicitor, begging for more funds.
And when the hefty cheque landed, Edwards went on a spending spree that would make a billionaire blush. He splashed out on a $1.6 million mansion spanning 6,000 square feet in a swanky gated community in Palm Beach, Florida, decked out with tennis courts and a golf course.
Not content with just one pad, he also bagged a second home for $600,000.
Following this, he splashed out on a $1.9m Lear Jet, three unsuccessful racehorses, a $200,000 Lamborghini Diablo, and a $90,000 Dodge Viper. His driveway was so packed with luxury cars (totalling over $1m) that his neighbours complained it resembled a car dealership.
After paying his ex-wife $500,000 for custody of his 11 year old daughter Tiffani, he gifted her a $35,000 Hummer golf cart, despite her being too young to drive. In his first three months as a millionaire, he had already spent $3million.
A year after his win, he had blown through $12million. Ignoring his initial promises made at the press conference, he invited an NBC News TV crew into his home, boasting about his $78,000 diamond-encrusted gold watch, a $159,000 ring and his $30,000 plasma screen TV.
He also squandered a significant amount of money on drugs. Reports suggest Edwards and Shawna wasted a fortune on crack cocaine, prescription pills, and heroin.
Amid costly and unsuccessful stints in rehab and numerous encounters with the police, both contracted hepatitis from using unclean needles. It was reported that he generously distributed drugs among friends, and when some died of overdoses, he would cover their funeral costs.
By 2006, just five years later, he had lost everything. Edwards and Shawna were completely penniless and resorted to living in a filthy storage unit surrounded by their own faeces, spoiled food, crack pipes and syringes.
Shawna later remarried and continued her struggle with drug addiction, while their daughter Tiffani, who was once enrolled in an upscale private school, found herself working as a clerk at an amusement park in West Virginia.
Left without money and in debt to friends, Edwards' first ex-wife and her new husband transported him from Florida back to his native Kentucky, where he passed away in hospice care at only 58 years old.
His former financial advisor lamented to the Broward-Palm Beach New Times in 2007: "If he followed my investment advice, he'd be pulling in about $85,000 a month for the rest of his life, instead he sold the lot."
As a stark warning, the American National Endowment for Financial Education reports that 70% of big lottery winners go bankrupt within just a few years of their win.
So a word to the wise: if you do strike it lucky, remember to handle your windfall wisely... it could be you!
After the story was recently retold on YouTube, many viewers rushed to have their say.
One wrote: "Money doesn’t change people, it makes them more of what they already are."
Another added: "Moral of the story don't do drugs. Don't spend anything until you have invested wisely. And have a constant income."
While a third said: "The old saying: 'A fool and his money are soon parted' couldn’t be more true."
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