(SALEM, Oregon) — One of the winners of a historic $1.3 Billion Powerball Jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has suffered from cancer for eight years and had his last chemotherapy treatment last week.
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan of Portland said at a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery that he and his wife, Duanpen, would split the prize equally with a friend who contributed $100 to buy a batch of tickets from them, Laiza Chao . They are receiving a one-time payment, $422 million after taxes.
“I will be able to support my family and my health,” he said, adding that he would “find a good doctor for me.”
He said that as a cancer patient, he wondered, “How am I going to have time to spend all this money? How long will I live?
After they purchased shared tickets, Chao sent a photo of the tickets to Saephan and said, “We are billionaires.” It was a joke before the drawing itself, he said, but the next day it became reality.
The winning Powerball ticket was sold in early April at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland, ending a winning streak that spanned more than three months. The Oregon Lottery said it had to go through a security and verification process before announcing the identity of the person who came forward to claim the prize.
Under Oregon law, with few exceptions, lottery players cannot remain anonymous. Winners have one year to claim the top prize.
The jackpot has a pre-tax cash value of $621 million if the winner chooses to receive a lump sum instead of an annual fee paid over 30 years, with immediate payment followed by 29 annual installments. Prize is subject to federal and state taxes in Oregon.
The $1.3 billion prize is the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot in history and the eighth-largest among U.S. jackpot games, according to the Oregon Lottery.
The biggest jackpot won in the US lottery was $2.04 billion in California in 2022.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
