91Èȱ¬

A Laos-born immigrant battling cancer has won a massive $1.3bn (£1bn) on Powerball - America's lottery game, competition officials have revealed.

They say Cheng Saephan, aged 46, bought the lucky ticket for the 7 April draw in the city of Portland, in the northwest of Oregon state.

He chose to take his winnings as a lump sum of $422m after taxes to be shared evenly with his wife and a friend.

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

"My life has been changed," Mr Saephan told CBS affiliate KOIN, revealing that he had prayed to God for help.

He added that he now wanted to buy a dream family house, and would continue playing Powerball.

"I might get lucky again."

CBS is the 91Èȱ¬'s media partner in America.

Mr Saephan - who has been undergoing chemotherapy for the past eight years - said that he, his wife and the friend had teamed up to buy more than 20 Powerball tickets for the 7 April draw.

The winning numbers were 22, 27, 44, 52, 69, and the red Powerball 9.

It was the fourth-largest jackpot in the Powerball's history, with the biggest so far being $2.04bn in 2022.

Powerball tickets cost $2 each and are sold in 45 US states, the District of Columbia, as well as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Huge billion-dollar prizes have become more common as ticket prices have been raised.

The game has also been tweaked, with players now choosing five numbers from one to 69 instead of from one to 59 under the previous rules.

Players also select the Powerball - their sixth number - from one to 26, instead of one to 35 as it was previously.

That decreases the chance of winning the grand prize from one in 175.2 million to one in 292.2 million.