Winner of $1.3 billion US jackpot is Laotian with cancer

Mr. Cheng Saephan at the Powerball jackpot announcement ceremony on April 29.

OREGON LIVE SCREENSHOT

The New York Post reported on April 30 that the winner of the Powerball jackpot in the US is a Laotian who is battling cancer and just finished chemotherapy last week.

Cheng "Charlie" Saephan, 46, who lives in Portland, Oregon and has had cancer for eight years, said he and his wife, Duanpen Saephan, 37, will split the prize with a friend who contributed $100 to buy some lottery tickets with them.

They decided to take the lump sum of $422 million after taxes. "I'm grateful that I won and I've been blessed," he said at an April 29 press conference hosted by the Oregon Lottery, adding that "my life has been changed."

“I will be able to take care of my family and my health… I will find a good doctor for myself,” he shared, wondering how long he would live and how he would spend the money.

After they bought tickets with their friend Laiza Chao, 55, of Milwaukie, Oregon, Chao sent a photo of them to Saephan and said, "We are billionaires."

It was a joke at first but the next day it became true when the lottery results came in. The husband called his wife to tell her the life-changing news.

“I asked her where she was and she said she was at work, so I told her she didn’t have to go to work anymore,” he said.

Mr. Saephan said he will buy a house in Oregon for his family and may continue buying lottery tickets. "Maybe I will be lucky again," he hoped.

This is the fourth largest prize in Powerball history and the eighth largest lottery prize in US history.

The winning numbers drawn on April 7 were 22-27-44-52-69 and the red Powerball number was 9. This was the 41st drawing since the last jackpot was won on New Year's Day, worth $842.4 million. Each Powerball ticket costs $2. The odds of winning are 1 in 292.2 million.

Under Oregon law, lottery players cannot remain anonymous with some exceptions. Winners have one year to claim the top prize.

Powerball jackpot rises to nearly $1 billion

Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The largest Powerball jackpot, and the largest in U.S. lottery history, was worth $2.04 billion. The lucky winner was in California in November 2022.

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