‘I have been blessed’: Man with cancer splits $1.3B Powerball jackpot with wife, friend

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — A man diagnosed with cancer says he’ll be sharing the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot he won earlier this month with his wife and his friend after they decided to buy a ticket together.

Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, a Laos-born immigrant who has been fighting cancer for the past eight years, said the winning ticket was part of a batch he purchased with his wife, Duanpen Saephan, and a friend, Laiza Chao of Milwaukie.

“I am grateful for the lottery and how I have been blessed,” said Saephan, who has lived in the U.S. for 30 years. “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 had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.

He 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 buying the shared tickets, Chao sent a photo of them to Saephan and said, “We’re billionaires.” It was a joke before the actual drawing, he said, but the next day it came true.

During Monday’s press conference, Saephan recounted the moment he told Chao of their victory.

“I call her and she’s driving on the way to work, and I told her, ‘What are you doing now?’ and she said, ‘I’m driving on the way to work,’ and I told her, ‘You don’t have to go work now.'”

They’ve elected for the lump sum payout, which came to just over $422 million after taxes, a spokesperson for the Oregon Lottery said Monday. Chao will get half, roughly $211 million, while Saephan and his wife will each receive a quarter of the prize money.

When asked what his first purchase would be, Saephan said a home for himself and his family. This also won’t be the last time he’ll play the lottery, he says.

“I might get lucky again,” he said, laughing. “I’ll keep playing.”

Saephan explained that he wrote the numbers in the Powerball game on a sheet of paper, then slept with it under his pillow in the weeks leading up to the winning drawing.

“I prayed to God to help me,” he said. “My kids are young, and I’m not that healthy.”

The winning ticket — with numbers 22, 27, 44, 52, 69 and red Powerball 9 — was sold at the Plaid Pantry at 6060 NE Columbia Boulevard , which will receive a $100,000 bonus. Lottery officials, along with Plaid Pantry President/CEO Jonathan Polonsky, shared that $7.6 million will be transferred back to the state once the winnings are finalized.

The winners came forward just a few days after the drawing but had to go through a confirmation process, which included reviewing video surveillance and checking the person’s identification.

Unlike other states , Oregon — with some exceptions — does not allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.

This jackpot ranks as the fourth-largest in Powerball history and the eighth-largest in U.S. draw game history behind a $1.337 billion Mega Millions jackpot won in Illinois in 2022.

1. $2.04 billion (Powerball): Nov. 7, 2022; California
2. $1.765 billion (Powerball): Oct. 11, 2023; California
3. $1.602 billion (Mega Millions): Aug. 8, 2023; Florida
4. $1.586 billion (Powerball): Jan. 13, 2016; California, Florida, Tennessee
5. $1.537 billion (Mega Millions): Oct. 23, 2018; South Carolina
6. $1.348 billion (Mega Millions): Jan. 13, 2023; Maine
7. $1.337 billion (Mega Millions): July 29, 2022; Illinois
8. $1.326 billion (Powerball): Apr. 6, 2024; Oregon
9. $1.128 billion (Mega Millions): Mar. 26, 2024; New Jersey
10. $1.08 billion (Powerball): July 19, 2023; California

It marks Oregon’s fourth and largest Powerball jackpot on record. It’s also the state’s first jackpot victory since a ticket landed a $150.4 million prize in 2018. Before this, Oregon’s largest Powerball jackpot was a $340 million prize in 2005. The jackpot had been growing since New Year’s Day and was able to outgrow the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot won by a New Jersey ticket last month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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