Kegan Gill was a US Navy F-18 fighter pilot. He ejected one day at the speed of sound and what followed was a descent into hell and madness. 

His story of survival, healing, and recovery from a single life-altering experience is well worth listening to as trauma, psychosis, and healing come in limitless and wholly unpredictable ways.

A person can be traumatized by a cult; fighting in a war; ejecting from a fighter plane; being the victim of a crime; homelessness; an abusive relationship; cancer; poverty; imprisonment; and the countless other life events Shakespeare called the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Likewise, healing has countless pathways: The stories of survivors consistently show us that they had to work out their own salvation — and often against many forms of opposition and setbacks.  

Mark Laita, creator of Soft White Underbelly, consistently does a tremendous job of simply listening to real people talk about their lives and struggles. 

On January 15, 2014, LT Kegan “SMURF” Gill nearly lost his life in the fastest survived ejection in naval aviation history. He’s spent every day since fighting to reclaim his mental, physical, and spiritual health-and now, he’s encouraging other veterans to join the fight alongside him.

Engaged in a dogfight while flying an F/A-18E Super Hornet, US Navy fighter pilot Lieutenant Kegan Gill can do nothing but hold tight as his jet succumbs to an out-of-control dive, forcing him to eject at the staggering speed of 695 miles per hour mere seconds before crashing into the shark-infested, icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. When he regains consciousness in a hospital and realizes he is paralyzed by catastrophic injuries and his flying career is seemingly over, he is fueled by a new mission: to defy the odds.

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