SALEM, Ore. (AP) — One of the winners of a $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot this month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week. Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, 46, of Portland, told a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery on Monday that he and his 37-year-old wife, Duanpen, would split the prize evenly with a friend. Laiza Chao, 55, of the Portland suburb of Milwaukie, had chipped in $100 to buy a batch of tickets with them. They are taking a lump sum payment, $422 million after taxes. “I will be able to provide for my family and my health,” he said, adding that he’d “find a good doctor for myself.” Saephan, who has two young children, 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 they bought the shared tickets, Chao sent a photo of the tickets to Saephan and said, “We’re billionaires.” It was a joke before the actual drawing, he said, but the next day it came true. |
Stock market today: Asia stocks are mostly lower after Wall St rebound led by Big TechMaggie Rogers on 'Don't Forget Me,' the album she wrote for a Sunday driveTotal solar eclipse: What's the path and what to know for Monday April 8Movie Review: ‘Food, Inc. 2’ revisits food system, sees reason for frustration and (a little) hopeBook Review: Hampton Sides revisits Captain James Cook, a divisive figure in the South PacificScientists tinker with evolution to save Hawaii coral reefs'La Chimera' review: Alice Rohrwacher's tombaroli tale is pure magicOdysseus: Moon lander tipped over at touchdown, limiting the data it's sendingHere's a look at moon landing hits and missesPayton Pritchard scores a career