Winner of huge Powerball jackpot in US is immigrant from Laos who has cancer

Cheng ‘Charlie’ Saephan won the jackpot (Jenny Kane/AP)

By Claire Rush, AP Reporter

One of the winners of a historic 1.3 billion dollar (£1.034 billion) Powerball jackpot last month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.

Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, of Portland in the US, told a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery that he and his wife Duanpen would split the prize evenly with a friend who chipped in 100 dollars to buy a batch of tickets with them, Laiza Chao.