MOPs & MOEs Owning Your Recovery with F-18 Pilot Kegan "SMurF" Gill
Kegan Gill's story is so incredible that the moment we first read it we knew we needed to try and get him on the podcast. We're just lucky we found out about him early on, because he will definitely be a household name soon enough.
Without spoiling too much of the story, which he tells eloquently, he was an F/A-18E Super Hornet pilot who experienced an extremely traumatic ejection, fought his way through the physical rehab, but was then laid low again by delayed onset mental health and TBI issues.
Our medical system successfully brought Kegan back from the brink of death, but when it came time to get him back to actual health it failed completely. What you'll hear in this conversation are all the ways he took ownership of his recovery journey.
We certainly brought Kegan on to tell his story, but he's told his story several times before. What we tried to draw out in this conversation were some key insights about the power of simple lifestyle behaviors to have profound health, fitness, and wellness benefits even in extreme situations.
You can find a full written version of Kegan's story here and Kegan specifically mention's the support he received from Jesse Gould and Heroic Hearts Project so check out their page while you're there.
Kegan mentions a documentary video about another high speed crash, you can find Brian Udell's (call sign Noodle) story on YouTube here.
Kegan recommends a few books to read:
Kegan also calls out several organizations that provided him crucial support during his journey:
Marcus Capone's Vet Solutions
Andrew & Adam Marr's Warrior Angels Foundation
You can get in touch with Kegan himself on his Instagram and LinkedIn