It was one of the biggest jackpots in US history
A cancer patient has said he can find a “good doctor” after he, his wife and a friend won $1.326 billion (£1.058bn) on the lottery.
On Monday (April 29), Cheng and Duanpen Saephan and their friend Laiza Chao were announced as the winners of the staggering Powerball jackpot drawn earlier this month.
The trio were revealed at a press conference at the Oregon Lottery Headquarters in Salem, Oregon.
Chaeng Saephan, an immigrant from Laos who moved to America in 1994, said that the jackpot win would be life-changing for him during his eight-year cancer battle.
He told reporters: “I’m happy for my family, they will have a good life. I’m battling cancer so thinking how am I going to spend all the money.”
Saephan added that he can now find a “good doctor” and that he and his wife plan to buy a home with their lump-sum winnings, ABC reports.
The husband and wife had purchased 20 Powerball tickets alongside their friend, Laiza, in the hopes of winning the staggering jackpot, which was the fourth-largest Powerball jackpot in history.
Recalling what he did when he heard they won, Saephan said: “I call 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!”
The trio have the option of receiving a lump cash sum of $621 million or getting annual payouts of the $1.3 billion, also pre-tax. These would start with one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments, increasing by 5 per cent each year.
The money is subject to federal and state taxes.
On April 6, the state’s lottery announced a winning ticket had been sold at the Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland.
The numbers drawn for the jackpot were 22, 27, 44, 52 and 69, with a Powerball of 9.
The store which sold the ticket will also receive a $100,000 bonus as a reward.
The Plaid Pantry President Jonathan Polonsky said the proceeds will be used to “fund many programs that benefit everyone in the state.”
In 2022, the largest U.S. lottery jackpot, worth $2.04 billion, was won in California.
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