SALEM, Ore. (AP) — One of the winners of a $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot this month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, 46, of Portland, told a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery on Monday that he and his 37-year-old wife, Duanpen, would split the prize evenly with a friend. Laiza Chao, 55, of the Portland suburb of Milwaukie, had chipped in $100 to buy a batch of tickets with them. They are taking a lump sum payment, $422 million after taxes.
“I will be able to provide for my family and my health,” he said, adding that he’d “find a good doctor for myself.”
Saephan, who has two young children, said that as a cancer patient, he wondered, “How am I going to have time to spend all of this money? How long will I live?”
After they bought the shared tickets, Chao sent a photo of the tickets to Saephan and said, “We’re billionaires.” It was a joke before the actual drawing, he said, but the next day it came true.
Election 2024: Biden and Trump bypassed the Commission on Presidential Debates
Burkina Faso junta expel 3 French diplomats over alleged subversive activities
Congress moving swiftly on bipartisan action to punish Iran after revenge attack on Israel
Replays in the FA Cup scrapped from next season. It removes a big money
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 26
Daniele De Rossi's contract at Roma is extended just 3 months after replacing Jose Mourinho
Champions League semis: Bayern hosts Madrid then Dortmund welcomes PSG
UK's Prince William returns to public duties for first time since Kate's cancer diagnosis
What a blast to work at NASA. Space agency is sky
'Alarm bells go off when there's a 20
Travis Kelce downs whiskey shot on slice of bread at Kelce Jam without Taylor Swift
Dallas Stars clinch top seed in Western Conference by getting to overtime against Blues