If this has ever happened to you, don't panic. I made this mistake once with a rare item. After the panic diminished, I thought about recreating the character and checking its e-mail. Sure enough, it was there!
Character handles are locked to your account as stated in this thread. So it's not like someone else can take a handle you have deleted and run away with your e-mail mistakes.
Just thought I'd post this because something similar happened recently.