“I Almost Lost My Life”: DeQuon Phillips on Addiction, Faith, and Fighting for A Future
- Game Changers
- Sep 26
- 5 min read
Game Changers Magazine • Game Changers Media Network • Voices of the Village — where change starts with conversation.
By Andreal L. Mallard Sr., Editor-in-Chief
DeQuon “Dequon” Phillips carries the kind of testimony that makes a room go quiet. It’s raw, unfiltered, and tragically familiar to far too many families in our community: a gifted kid with church roots, pulled into a street culture glamorized by music, fast money, and faster highs—until a December night nearly cost him everything.
“The doctor told me I was on the verge of a stroke and a heart attack at the same time,” Phillips recalls. “I looked at my mama crying in the corner and said, ‘God, if you stop this pain, I promise I’ll stop.’ I’ve been clean ever since.”
Phillips is a motivational speaker, survivor, and community advocate. His story isn’t told to glorify darkness but to show a way out—for young kings chasing a moment, for men and women numbing real pain, and for families praying their loved one makes it home.
Raised on Love, Principles—and Prayer
Before the streets, there was structure. Phillips grew up with loving parents, a firm granddad, and grandmothers rooted deep in church. “We were raised on morals, respect, and principles,” he says. “Those old prayers? They still work.”
Like many ‘80s babies who came of age in the ‘90s, Phillips felt the pull of a culture shift. Music that once rallied us to “fight the power” was drowned out by what he calls “murder-murder, kill-kill, and the chase for attention.” Uncles, cousins, and neighborhood heroes modeled a life that looked like winning. “I wanted to try what I’d seen,” he admits. “The parties, the women, the cars—attention will trick you.”
The First High—and a 20-Year Chase
It started at 16, in an Atlanta strip club where a dancer put a line of cocaine in front of him and showed him how to use it.
“From that first hit, I chased the same high for 20-plus years,” he says. “Coke, pills, alcohol—it became the only way I thought I could function.”
The highs came with felony charges and prison time—Jackson State, Hays State, Level 5. He came home to the same cycle: people ready with “a pack or some money to get back moving,” he says. “I thought they loved me. Really, they were sucking me dry—my dope, my money, my mind.”
Near-Death, Grace, and a Promise
There were warning shots: something slipped in a drink, a rush to the hospital, and the eerie silence of friends who “didn’t see” anything. But the wake-up call landed December 26, 2019.
After a binge—“an eight ball, heavy liquor, pills”—Phillips woke up to blood pouring from his nose and mouth. In the hospital, his arm pounded with his heartbeat, pain like a siren. “I felt out of my body, like God letting me see the edge,” he says. “I promised Him: if You stop the pain, I’ll stop the life. And He did.”
That vow became the hinge of his future. “I’m scared to break that promise,” he says plainly. “Even after dental work I won’t touch heavy meds that make me feel geeked. I protect my sobriety.”
The Real Enemies: Attention, Depression, and Isolation
Phillips is blunt about the trap: “Attention is the new addiction. Back then we said women wanted attention—now a lot of men want it more.” Add in depression and untreated mental health, and the spiral accelerates.
“We grew up thinking mental health meant straitjackets. Nah. It’s your mind running wild at 3 a.m. That’s the battle that’ll make you take your own life if you don’t talk to somebody.”
He’s adamant: therapy is not weakness. “I’ve been in therapy since my grandma passed. In our culture we’re scared somebody will ‘tell our business.’ These folks are licensed. Get help. Live.”
Tough Love, Real Accountability
Phillips never romanticizes his past. He honors the elders who “stood on what they said” and calls today’s culture to do the same—at home and in the streets.
Parents: “Quit being your child’s friend. Be their parent, protector, and teacher. Friends can’t correct you.”
Church & Community: “If you build a gym for youth, staff it with instructors and mentors or it becomes a hangout. Programs must come with structure and purpose.”
Leaders & Influencers: “Stop waiting until a funeral to show up. If your platform’s big, use it to resource the people doing the daily grind—the street ministers, the coaches, the aunties keeping food on the stove.”
From Chaos to Calling
What changed? “I got tired,” he says. Tired of burying friends. Tired of rehearsing the same pain. Tired of mistaking chaos for life.
He chose marriage, fatherhood, work, and service—and he’s turned his testimony into a lighthouse. Through speaking, mentoring, and showing up where the need is, Phillips is out to “change one mind every time.”
“God gave me two chances,” he says. “Some people don’t get one. Some lose their minds, their limbs, or their lives. I owe Him my obedience—and I owe our youth the truth.”
Five Lessons DeQuon Wants Every Young King to Hear
Attention isn’t love. If the crowd only loves your high, they’ll disappear when you crash.
The first high is a lie. You’ll chase it for years and lose yourself on the way.
Paperwork is real. “First Offender” sounds sweet—until you violate and do every day.
Therapy is strength. Talk it out before your mind talks you into a grave.
Choose wise coverage. Not every hand laid is holy. Protect your spirit, your circle, your promise.
A Word to the Village
At Game Changers Media Network and Voices of the Village, we believe testimonies like DeQuon’s are prevention tools—maps that show the cliff’s edge and the road back home.
If you’re a mentor, coach, pastor, teacher, or just a neighbor with a porch light—this is your assignment. Pull a young person close. Fund a program. Offer a ride. Sit in the ER with somebody’s son. Village work is every day, not just the news cycle.
Resource Box: Help & Hope
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Call or text 988 (24/7)
SAMHSA National Helpline — 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for treatment referrals
A New Well, Inc. — Adult Day Center & in-home supports (Stockbridge, GA) • 1-800-341-0120 • anewwellinc.com
Local Faith & Community Partners — Ask about peer support, recovery groups, and youth mentorship
Final Word
DeQuon Phillips isn’t selling perfection. He’s keeping a promise—to God, to his mother, to himself, and now to the next generation. His message is simple: you can come home.
“Those old prayers still work,” he says. “But we need more than prayers—we need presence, purpose, and truth. Let’s get back to being a village.”
If DeQoun’s story resonated and you’d like him to speak to your school, church, or program, contact Game Changers Media Network. Let’s change the narrative—one honest conversation at a time.
DeQuon Phillips- From The Streets To Sobriety, From Struggle To Solution on VOTV
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