The winner of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon last month is an immigrant from Laos who had been battling cancer for eight years.
The winning Powerball ticket was sold in early April at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland, ending a winless streak that had stretched more than three months.
Oregon Lottery officials on Monday said 46-year-old Cheng Saephan, a Laos-born immigrant living in Portland and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week, claimed the winning ticket.
"I am grateful for the lottery and how I have been blessed," Saephan told reporters at a news conference Monday, according to CBS affiliate KOIN. "I am able to provide for my family and my health. … My life has been changed. Now I can bless my family and hire a good doctor for myself."
Saephan said he was relying on a combination of faith and luck when he purchased more than 20 tickets for the drawing.
"I prayed to God to help me," he said. "My kids are young and I'm not that healthy."
Officials said Saephan decided to take his winnings as a lump sum, $422 million after taxes, with his wife Duanpen Saephan, 37, and friend Laiza Chao, 55, of Milwaukie.
Saephan shared that his friend will receive a portion of the winnings as she contributed $100 towards the purchase of the tickets. Upon realizing he held the winning ticket, he immediately called her to deliver the news.
"I asked Laiza, 'Where are you?' and she replied, 'I'm heading to work,'" Saephan recounted. "To which I responded, 'You don't have to go anymore.'
"I might get lucky again," he mused. "I'll keep playing."
Per Oregon regulations, lottery winners are typically unable to maintain their anonymity. Winners are given a year to claim their winnings.
The Oregon Lottery disclosed that they had to undergo a thorough security and validation procedure before revealing the identity of the individual who stepped forward to claim the prize.
The $1.3 billion jackpot stands as the fourth-largest Powerball prize in history and the eighth largest among U.S. jackpot games, as per the Oregon Lottery.
The largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever won was $2.04 billion in California in 2022.
