Jacksonville teen says second chance at life helped him graduate, get to college

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Eighteen-year-old Jovan Mills almost died after he was shot in the chest while walking to his bus stop.

Today, the local teen is persevering.

He told Action News Jax’s Alicia Tarancon he never thought he’d graduate high school and make it to college, but now he’s defying the odds.

Mills graduated from Westside High School and just got his acceptance letter for college, but his journey to academic success wasn’t easy.

“It could have been my time. Really, I actually was supposed to die. I had holes all in my liver, I had holes in my lungs,” he said.

Action News Jax first reported in 2018 when the teen was shot in a drive by near a senior center on the west side.

Mills was rushed to the hospital after a bus driver stepped in to help save his life.

While his recovery took months, he said he got a second chance at life.

He also had help along the way thanks to the hard work and dedication of his vice principal at Westside High School.

Stephen Richardson took Mills to church at the Glorious Bethlehem Temple on the Southside and encouraged him to apply to college.

They even took tours of college campuses together.

“When he found out that there were colleges that he could get into, his whole persona changed because I think a lot of kids think if you don’t have this GPA or you’re not going to Harvard or one of the major state schools that college is just backseat. And that’s not the case,” Richardson said.

Mills said that Richardson did everything in his power to make sure the teen got his grades up and that he graduated on time.

“I met him halfway and now we’re here,” Mills said.

The 18-year-old tells me he’s majoring in business and finance at the College of Coastal Georgia.

"That’s the goal I want to do. I also want to do custom shoes for my side hustle because you always got to have a side hustle, he said.

Mills hopes his story will inspire others to never give up, work hard and believe in themselves.

He will begin college in the fall but he's still facing financial difficulties.

If you’d like to help you can click on his GoFundMe account: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jovan039s-college-fund

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