Phillip Guison is poised to advance to the semifinal round of Colossal’s Mr. Health and Fitness competition. But before he does, he must take first place in the competition’s quarterfinal round by gaining more votes than his competitors.
“There are several phases to the competition,” he said. “I won the group phase, which (was) comprised of weekly online votes to keep me in the competition. I am in the top (one percent) of the competitors in the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals ends (today). I need to be in first place to advance.”
Guison said the competition is being held to support a foundation that helps children battling cancer.
“Colossal’s Mr. Health & Fitness competition (is) a nationwide campaign raising funds and awareness for the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation,” he said. “This foundation helps support childhood cancer.”
Currently, Guison is placed fourth in the competition’s quarter-final round. He is hoping that enough people will vote for him to help him advance into the semifinals.
“Christian county residents can help in the last part of this competition with daily votes online,” he said. “You can follow the link on my Facebook page posts on Phillip Guison. You can vote for free once per day and buy additional votes which go to the foundation to support childhood cancer care.”
It is no coincidence that Guison is taking part in a competition designed to support those battling cancer, as he is himself a cancer survivor.
“I was diagnosed with stage 4a Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in early 2024,” he said. “It took nearly (eight) months and several doctors to finally get the diagnosis. Because I was already in stage (four) with this rare cancer I was put through (four) months of weekly chemo and nearly (two) months of daily radiation.”
While conventional medicine helped Guison in his fight against cancer, he said it was lifestyle changes that ultimately helped him overcome the disease.
“Unfortunately, while some things showed improvement, all the imaging showed hardly any change (in my diagnosis). “Through a huge change in nutrition and lifestyle changes, I slowly started to see a change overall.”
As a result, Guison decided to take up bodybuilding.
“As I started seeing changes in (not only) how I felt, but also how I was losing weight, I decided to make a goal,” he said. “I entered into my first bodybuilding competition in November of 2025. I lost in total over 70 lbs and placed fourth in my division. I have been in remission for about a year now.”
Guison decided to enter the Mr. Health and Fitness competition in the hopes that his story could inspire others.
“Winning this competition will, one, give (me) a chance to share my story with an even larger audience being published in the Muscle & Fitness magazine,” he said. “I hope it will help others that go through cancer that a life can be lived on the other side. And two, winning this competition will show how a community rallied around anything can make anything possible.
“This competition has been a fun way to show my journey from cancer to remission to thriving. I hope it helps inspire others to find … support and keep moving forward.”
Guison also said that he is grateful for the way the community has rallied around him during this journey.
“I have had a lot of support so far with the competition so far with many friends, family, and people in the community voting daily and sharing my story,” he said. “Throughout my cancer treatment and recovery journey, I’ve had a lot of support from, again, family, friends, and the community at large here in Nixa. The community signed up and had consistent meals for my family for several months when I was unable to do more than do treatment and then lay down in bed at home. It has been such an overwhelming support from everyone to get to where I am today. We all can help and make a little difference with everyone around us.”
To vote for Guison, go online to https://mrhealthandfit.com/2026/phillip-guison. You can vote for free once a day, and more votes can be purchased by donating to the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation. Voting ends today at 7 p.m.
