Immigrant man battling cancer wins $1.3 billion lottery in US

Cheng Saephan, a Laos-born immigrant won a $1.3 billion lottery in US Powerball.

Saephan, 46, is battling cancer and has been undergoing chemotherapy for the past eight years. He bought the ticket for April 7 draw in Portland, in the northwest of the state of Oregon, BBC reported.

After tax deduction, he took his winnings as a lump sum of $422 million and shared it with his wife and friend.

Speaking to CBS about his win, Saephan said that his "life has been changed" and that he can afford a good doctor now.

"Now I can bless my family and hire a good doctor for myself", he said.

He added that he would continue playing Powerball and wants to buy his family their dream house.

Each Powerball ticket costs $2. Saephan, his wife and a friend collectively bought over 20 tickets. 22, 27, 44, 52, 69, red Powerball 9 were the winning numbers. Their jackpot is the fourth largest in Powerball history, BBC reported.

The game has undergone signification changes relating to the cost of the ticket and increase in the quantity of purchasing allowed. Earlier, people were allowed to choose five numbers between one and 59 and now that limit has been raise to 69.

Additionally, they can select their sixth number from one to 26 as opposed to the previous limit of 35.

These changes have decreased the grand prize winning chances from one in 175.2 million to one in 292.2 million, the publication reported.