I've read quite a few of these stories over the years, and it is really bad if all your digital life is tied to the Google account.
A couple of months ago I took the courage and started migrating to a new email (using mailbox.org) with my own domain purchased via namecheap.
Took a few days to migrate most of my accounts to the new e-mail, but I highly recommend for anyone in a similar situation looking for some peace of mind.