Dying man finishes Mississippi River trip

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Surrounded by friends, supporters and more than one camera, he watched with a broad grin as a Plaquemines Parish Port Authority vessel in the Sugar Creek Bayou sounded its sirens and sprayed fire hoses into air as a salute to Phillips, a terminally ill man who was given three months to live nearly two years ago. Phillips defied those odds and completed a 20-month journey down the Mississippi River aboard a battered houseboat.

Over a hundred people gathered Saturday (Jan. 26) at the Cypress Cove Marina in Venice, Louisiana to celebrate the completion of his approximately two-thousand-mile trip. In addition to the nautical salute, Phillips was given the key to the city by Plaquemines Parish President Kirk Lepine, who told Phillips, “You brought a bright light to Plaquemines Parish.”

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“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.

Phillips’s months on the Mississippi were frequently challenging. From an exploding can of chili to getting the boat stuck in ice to collisions with rock jetties and even a cargo ship at anchor, “Shameless” and its captain weathered many potentially disastrous trials.

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Phillips had initially planned to end his journey in New Orleans but then decided to complete the navigation of the Mississippi River with a final push down to Venice near where the river ends at the Gulf of Mexico.

As the smoke rose from the grill and music blared across the marina’s parking lot, “Shameless” bobbed gently at the Cypress Cove Marina, her journey complete. Two new flags flew above her bow: the Louisiana state flag and a Mardi Gras flag. Tied up behind her was a new skiff, donated to Phillips by Belle Chasse residents Marty Phingsten and Adam Young, who also provided a new battery to Phillips.

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Before Phillips and his newfound family dug into the mountain of crawfish, jambalaya, gumbo, barbecued chicken, fried shrimp and other local fare donated to the celebration, Rev. Max Latham of the Three Crosses in Buras gathered the crowd into a circle beneath the raised Cypress Grove Hotel for a blessing. With his arm around Phillips’s shoulder, Latham thanked God for bringing Phillips to their community and the gathered crowd nodded its agreement.

When the blessing was finished, Phillips, Sapphire in his arms, wiped a hand across his face and said quietly, “I hope heaven’s like this.”

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