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After A Sad Diagnosis, A Man Decides To Spend His Last Days Sailing With His Dog

Kelly Phillips, 51, a native of Wisconsin, said that two years ago she received a diagnosis of sinus cancer. He had side effects from the chemotherapy, including tooth loss and a stomach ulcer that made him weak. According to his physicians, he only had three months to live.

Phillips declared:

When I woke up one morning at 10 in the morning, an ulcer I had from the radiation had burst.

Phillips was residing in New Jersey at the time. According to WREG News, the man claimed to have woken up 21 days later at a hospice when he was informed that his brother had contacted him three times to warn him that he would never wake up.

Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Phillips was given three months to live by doctors. He then contacted his brother to express his desire to avoid passing away at a hospice.

The Mississippi River, he reasoned, may be an excellent destination at that time. So, with the aid of his brother, he acquired the 1972-built houseboat “Shameless”.

Phillips declared:

“In the morning, I awoke. I’m not sure why, but I suddenly made the decision to contact my brother and tell him that this is what I want to do.

Phillips operated a number of companies for 22 years, including a commercial washing service in New Jersey. He said that he is happier than ever right now.

Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

He stated:

“I was upset over something every day. You become quite irate when you have 53 employees.

She arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 15, 2017, settled in, and left the next day. Since then, she and her devoted small puppy Ella Sapphire have both been swimming in the river.

Phillips had intended to remain there. But as the months passed, he made the decision to keep going downstream.

He stated:

“I believed that my travels would last for three months only. I survived, but my intentions were derailed, so I kept going downstream.”

He made the decision to live on the river, and he now enjoys meeting the “river folks” on a daily basis.

When the money he was allowed to live on ran out, Phillips had nothing left but “river people” on every leg of his journey to offer him charity when he needed it. Phillips had spent the most of his money on his boat and the supplies he required during the few months he was granted to live on.

Phillips declared:

Every time I consider about the things others have done for me, it makes me cry.

Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Since then, he has called the river his home, and together with Sapphire, he described the “river people” as his family.

On the eve of 2017, Phillips recalls landing in Chester, Illinois. The day after he was supposed to depart, his boat became stranded in the icy sea. He was out of gas for his generator and wood for his furnace.

He stated:

I was about to die of cold.

Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune