The 700 MPH Ejection That Changed an F/A-18 Pilot’s Life | Official Preview

The Dogfight and Ejection [00:00:00]

• During a dogfighting training exercise, pilot Kagan Gill found himself in a turning dive towards the ocean.
• He heard his radar altimeter blaring and realized the ocean was rapidly approaching.
• With the stick unresponsive, he ejected at 0.95 indicated Mach, approximately 695 miles per hour, just before impacting the water.

  All I knew is I was pointed straight at the ocean with the stick in my lap, and then all of a sudden the jet just stopped turning.

Catastrophic Injuries and Immediate Aftermath [00:00:00]

• The high-speed ejection caused catastrophic injuries, including a traumatic brain injury from his head smashing.
• His body impacting the sound barrier with explosive force caused immense damage.
• He experienced disorientation underwater, struggling to breathe and ingesting water.

  What do you remember when you woke up in the water?

The Battle for Recovery [00:00:00]

• Gill faced a long battle with PTSD, addiction, and the unseen wounds of war.
• He experienced severe depression, contemplating suicide with a firearm next to his bed.
• The feeling of helplessness was profound, exacerbated by his injuries and the struggle to walk or use his arms.

  You tell me I can't do that, I'm going to prove you wrong.

Critiques of the VA System [00:00:00]

• Gill expressed skepticism about the VA system, suggesting it's intentionally designed to over-medicate veterans.
• He believes the pharmaceutical industry profits from this model, keeping veterans on medication.
• This system, driven by greed, prevents meaningful change.

  It's intentionally designed to drive you into a hole to where you have to be over-medicated, which feeds that pharmaceutical machine that has control of the VA system.

Finding Hope and Purpose [00:00:00]

• A peyote ceremony with a Native American group provided a sense of connection and purpose.
• Meeting Jesse Gould of Heroic Hearts Project led to an ayahuasca experience in Peru.
• This experience brought about a massive heart opening and a profound connection to the divine, restoring his sense of being whole.

  And for the first time, I felt really connected to something again after being disconnected for all those years.

Returning to Life and Advocacy [00:00:00]

• Gill transformed from someone barely able to do chores to a loving husband and father.
• He defied expectations of lifelong medication and disability.
• He became an advocate for veteran mental health, sharing his story of survival and recovery.

  I went from barely able to do the dishes, being told that I just to take my pills for the rest of my life, to becoming a loving husband, a loving father of my two children, who I'm so lucky still to have after the hell that they went through.