The winner of the US lottery’s $1.3 billion jackpot is suffering from a serious form of cancer. The 46-year-old man has been suffering from this disease for more than eight years. After learning he was the prize winner, the man, who is a long-term US immigrant from Laos, said he would use the money to find “a good doctor.”
The $1.3 billion prize will be split in three
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, a father of two from Portland, Oregon, won the US lottery jackpot along with his wife and a friend, according to The New York Post. The award won by the man of Laotian origin is the fourth largest in the history of the American institution. He will be divided between the three. The man who is sick with cancer announced that he will use the money to find a good doctor and take care of his health.
“I will be able to provide for my family and my health,” the man said in a press conference, according to Sky News.
The story of the $1.3 billion lottery ticket
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, 46, said he and his wife Duanpen Saephan, 37, will share the prize equally with a female friend who contributed $100 to buy the tickets with them.
They get a lump sum – $422 million after taxes.
After they bought the ticket, the woman took a picture and jokingly sent the message: “We are billionaires.”
The next day, they found out they had won the grand prize. The man also revealed that he really wanted to win the lottery to afford expensive medical treatments.
Saephan and his wife will take half of the amount and the other half will go to their friend.
Since they wanted to collect the prize on the spot and not in installments, they will receive an amount of 422 million dollars.
“I’m grateful to the Lottery and the way I’ve been blessed,” he said at an Oregon Lottery news conference Monday, adding that his “life has been changed.”
