After cancer diagnosis, man chooses to die sailing down the Mississippi River (OP Updated)

quote:

---

A yellow tugboat heading upstream along the Mississippi River Wednesday morning (Jan. 9) created waves strong enough to rock an old red and white houseboat named “Shameless.” The waves pulled at the little houseboat, threatening to make it come untied from a tree near the levee in Algiers Point, where it’s been docked this past week.

The boat’s owner, Kelly Phillips, 51, and his dog, Sapphire, walked out onto the houseboat’s deck, managing to keep their balance despite the wind and relentless rocking. They jumped into a dark green pirogue that was taking on some water and Phillips paddled to the levee using an old broom he had found on shore.

---

quote:

---

Phillips, who is originally from Wisconsin, said he was diagnosed with cancer in his sinuses about two years ago. He underwent chemotherapy, but the treatment left him with a debilitating stomach ulcer. His doctors said he had only about three months to live.

At the time, Phillips was living in New Jersey, where he ran a variety of businesses including two laundromats and a commercial laundry company with 53 employees.

He said he knew the last place he wanted to die in was in hospice care.

He thought if anything, the Mississippi River might be a good place to go. So, with his brother’s help he bought “Shameless,” a houseboat built in 1972.

---

quote:

---

Originally he had planned to stay in Wisconsin. But three months went by. Then five months and six months, so he decided to head downriver.

“I figured I’d travel for three months and that would be it. I didn’t die, my plans got screwed up, so I continued going downriver,” he said.

---

quote:

---

New Orleans was originally going to be his last stop on his journey down the river, but Phillips said he plans to end up in Venice, La., by Jan. 23 where many of his “river friends” plan to meet him.

He found out about this last place on the river a few weeks ago and says he is looking forward to all of the fresh seafood ahead in his journey.

“Most of all I want to say ‘I did it, I made it all the way down the river,’” he said.

---

quote:

---

Mississippi River pilots on Monday (Jan. 21) installed a tracking system on Phillips’ houseboat, “Shameless,” allowing him to more safely navigate the river, according to the Crescent River Port Pilots Association (CRPPA), which navigates ships between New Orleans and Pilottown. Mobile, Ala.-based Cooper T. Smith Stevedoring and others helped the CRPPA with the installation, which took place at Algiers Point, where Phillips’ houseboat has been docked for most of January.

With the tracking system in place, the Shameless becomes part of the official Mississippi River Tracking Information System (MRTIS), an online vessel-monitoring service developed by pilots Ryan Scully and Keith Siverd with CRPPA.

---

quote:

---

To check in on Phillips, visit the MRTIS website, hit “enter,” and then “Vessels.” Click on “S” and find “Shameless.”

---