The winner of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot in Oregon last month is a Portland man who has been battling cancer for eight years.
The winning Powerball ticket was sold in early April at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland.
The draw ended a winless streak that had stretched more than three months.
On Monday, Oregon Lottery officials said 46-year-old Cheng Saephan, a Laos-born immigrant living in Portland claimed the winning ticket.
Saephan had his latest chemotherapy treatment just last week.
“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.”
In a press conference held at the Oregon Lottery Headquarters in Salem, Oregon, Saephan, his wife Duanpen Saephan, 37, and friend Laiza Chao, 55, were all announced as the winners of the massive lottery.
Their numbers came up in a lucky ticket earlier this month.
During the ceremony, Saephan started by thanking God and explaining his background as an immigrant.
“I was born in Laos in 1977,” Saephan stated.
“I moved to Thailand in 1987 and stayed in Thailand for six years.
“I came to America in 1994 and graduated from high school in 1996.
“I [have been] working since then till 2016, [when] I found out I have cancer.
“So since 2016, I’ve been battling with cancer for eight years now.
“Currently, I [am] still having chemotherapy, I just had one last Monday and I’m still fighting.”
“I’m thankful for the lottery and how I have been blessed with this prize.
“I will be able to provide for my family and my health.”
Saephan, who said he regularly played the lottery along with his wife and Chao, bought 20 Powerball tickets.
“I called Laiza as she’s driving to work, I told her you don’t have to go to work now; we won the lottery; we won the jackpot!” Saephan said.
The winning ticket was sold on April 6 at the Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland.
The lucky ticket matched all winning numbers 22, 27, 44, 52, and 69, with a Powerball of 9, according to ABC 7 Chicago.
The Oregon Lottery stated the $1.326 billion Powerball ticket was the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot and eighth-largest of the country’s jackpot games.
Saephan said his first expenditures with the winnings will be a new home for him and his family and a “good doctor” as he continues his battle against cancer.
Officials stated that Saephan decided to take the winnings as a lump sum, $422 million after taxes, according to CBS News.
