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Phoenix Revival: The Aftermath of Naval Aviation's Fastest Survived Ejection
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 to defy the odds.
A grueling, multi-year journey of over a dozen surgeries, a struggle with prescription drug addiction, and emotional abuse culminates in his triumphant return to the cockpit of the F/A-18. However, due to a lack of understanding of brain injuries and PTSD within the medical community and the dysfunctional VA healthcare system, he is subjected to a harmful regimen of psychotropic medications, exacerbating his cognitive struggles and leading him into the depths of paranoia and psychosis.
With the support of family, friends, and a network of nonprofit organizations, Lieutenant Gill embarks on a new path to recovery. Embracing a healthier lifestyle and finding new hope through alternative treatment methods, including groundbreaking psychedelic therapy, he transforms into an ultra-endurance athlete, writer, and motivational speaker. His is an epic journey to hell and back, offering inspiration to anyone facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. Phoenix Revival is more than a memoir—it's a testament to the human spirit's unyielding determination to rise from the ashes.
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 to defy the odds.
A grueling, multi-year journey of over a dozen surgeries, a struggle with prescription drug addiction, and emotional abuse culminates in his triumphant return to the cockpit of the F/A-18. However, due to a lack of understanding of brain injuries and PTSD within the medical community and the dysfunctional VA healthcare system, he is subjected to a harmful regimen of psychotropic medications, exacerbating his cognitive struggles and leading him into the depths of paranoia and psychosis.
With the support of family, friends, and a network of nonprofit organizations, Lieutenant Gill embarks on a new path to recovery. Embracing a healthier lifestyle and finding new hope through alternative treatment methods, including groundbreaking psychedelic therapy, he transforms into an ultra-endurance athlete, writer, and motivational speaker. His is an epic journey to hell and back, offering inspiration to anyone facing seemingly insurmountable challenges. Phoenix Revival is more than a memoir—it's a testament to the human spirit's unyielding determination to rise from the ashes.
263 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 21, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 25, 2025
SMURF’s is an incredible, I mean, unbelievable story. The nuts and bolts of the narrative alone make this a page turner. That he’s an excellent writer, too, will reward every minute you devote to reading it.
I happen to have been there for a small portion of this story.
You’ll see this review among some other praise in the first few pages …
I nearly killed my friend.
In Naval Aviation, any time there is an unexpected or undesirable outcome, we collaborate to understand what happened, why, and how to be better next time. We
call this the debrief. Accountability in the debrief is the mark of the most professional among us. Being critical, first, of ourselves. Our decisions. Our actions. Did we choose right? Did we execute correctly? And, if our first notes in the debrief
are not about where we failed and where we could be better next time, we’re wrong. Those among us who shirk this responsibility and accountability are known. Known as phonies, liabilities, or worse.
If you pay close attention to this book, you’ll notice that Kegan takes ALL of the blame for the sequence of events that left him floating in the ice cold Atlantic Ocean on 15 January, 2014. Floating in a shredded dry suit, with exposed fractures to every extremity ... the least severe of his injuries. Pay close attention, and you’ll notice that he is a true professional. He identifies and takes responsibility for his errors in decision making and execution. And that is where it stops. Could he have made better decisions? Could he have executed better? Could he have been in a more controlled setting where he could not have even ‘gotten there’ in the first place? Yes. Yes. And, yes. And, you would never know it by hearing only his account, but he bears none of the responsibility for being in that flight; airborne in a nonstandard, and unfamiliar setting. His decisions and execution? Well, you’ll have to read his account for yourself, but while he was in the airplane by himself, he was not alone.
His training, and that of the rest of the squadron, were my direct responsibility. And quite simply, looking at this accident with the sobriety it deserves, I failed.
There is an old quote, unattributed to anyone in particular as far as I know, that goes like this, “Whenever we talk about a pilot who has been killed in a flying accident, we should all keep one thing in mind. He called upon the sum of all his knowledge and made a judgment. He believed it so strongly that he knowingly bet his life on it. That his judgment was faulty was a tragedy, not stupidity. Every inspector, supervisor, and contemporary who ever spoke to him had an opportunity to influence his judgment, so a little of all of us goes with every pilot we lose.”
Well, thank God that we didn’t lose SMURF in a flying accident, but it got pretty damn close. And not only did I have an ‘opportunity’ to influence his judgment, I had a responsibility to. And any mistake he may have made that day is on me. And
our Skipper. And our Operations Officer. And our Scheduling Officer. And his instructors in the RAG ... And ... And ... And as the quote’s author says, anyone with the ‘opportunity to influence his judgment.’ And that is just it, he is not the only
human whose mistakes nearly killed him that day. But he is the only human standing tall and taking accountability for them. What an outstanding man.
And that accident is only the first Act in his remarkable story. An Act that surely would have taken the weaker among us and rendered us victims of our circumstances. Not in the case of my friend, Kegan ‘SMURF’ Gill, a seeming Super Human, who’s descent into the depths of physical, mental, and emotional Hell Fire have only forged him into a stronger human. Reborn, like the Phoenix of legend, into the incredible human he is today; Father, husband, and tireless activist for those less capable.
I happen to have been there for a small portion of this story.
You’ll see this review among some other praise in the first few pages …
I nearly killed my friend.
In Naval Aviation, any time there is an unexpected or undesirable outcome, we collaborate to understand what happened, why, and how to be better next time. We
call this the debrief. Accountability in the debrief is the mark of the most professional among us. Being critical, first, of ourselves. Our decisions. Our actions. Did we choose right? Did we execute correctly? And, if our first notes in the debrief
are not about where we failed and where we could be better next time, we’re wrong. Those among us who shirk this responsibility and accountability are known. Known as phonies, liabilities, or worse.
If you pay close attention to this book, you’ll notice that Kegan takes ALL of the blame for the sequence of events that left him floating in the ice cold Atlantic Ocean on 15 January, 2014. Floating in a shredded dry suit, with exposed fractures to every extremity ... the least severe of his injuries. Pay close attention, and you’ll notice that he is a true professional. He identifies and takes responsibility for his errors in decision making and execution. And that is where it stops. Could he have made better decisions? Could he have executed better? Could he have been in a more controlled setting where he could not have even ‘gotten there’ in the first place? Yes. Yes. And, yes. And, you would never know it by hearing only his account, but he bears none of the responsibility for being in that flight; airborne in a nonstandard, and unfamiliar setting. His decisions and execution? Well, you’ll have to read his account for yourself, but while he was in the airplane by himself, he was not alone.
His training, and that of the rest of the squadron, were my direct responsibility. And quite simply, looking at this accident with the sobriety it deserves, I failed.
There is an old quote, unattributed to anyone in particular as far as I know, that goes like this, “Whenever we talk about a pilot who has been killed in a flying accident, we should all keep one thing in mind. He called upon the sum of all his knowledge and made a judgment. He believed it so strongly that he knowingly bet his life on it. That his judgment was faulty was a tragedy, not stupidity. Every inspector, supervisor, and contemporary who ever spoke to him had an opportunity to influence his judgment, so a little of all of us goes with every pilot we lose.”
Well, thank God that we didn’t lose SMURF in a flying accident, but it got pretty damn close. And not only did I have an ‘opportunity’ to influence his judgment, I had a responsibility to. And any mistake he may have made that day is on me. And
our Skipper. And our Operations Officer. And our Scheduling Officer. And his instructors in the RAG ... And ... And ... And as the quote’s author says, anyone with the ‘opportunity to influence his judgment.’ And that is just it, he is not the only
human whose mistakes nearly killed him that day. But he is the only human standing tall and taking accountability for them. What an outstanding man.
And that accident is only the first Act in his remarkable story. An Act that surely would have taken the weaker among us and rendered us victims of our circumstances. Not in the case of my friend, Kegan ‘SMURF’ Gill, a seeming Super Human, who’s descent into the depths of physical, mental, and emotional Hell Fire have only forged him into a stronger human. Reborn, like the Phoenix of legend, into the incredible human he is today; Father, husband, and tireless activist for those less capable.
April 2, 2026
Exceptionally well written, this story is impactful. Well worth the read.
February 26, 2025
I read the book I purchased directly from the author and it is outstanding.
I found that I could not put this book down.
I grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia and my Dad was stationed at NAS Oceana as an AT-1 where Gill was stationed early in his career and where the accident happened off the coast of Virginia Beach.
I have surfed at Duck in Nags Head mentioned in the book as well as at Boilers and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and once heard two sonic booms from what I presume were F-14s breaking the sound barrier while surfing off the North Carolina coast when I was in high school.
Gill’s story of his accident, treatment at and by the VA (while all too common among the stories from his fellow Veterans I have read from their books), and his recovery and route to recovery are amazing.
I have read about 145 books since 9/11 about combat and combat wounded Veterans and the stories of opioid addiction and other drug addiction are the same and it's nice to know there are alternative treatments available and it is a shame the VA won't pay for many of them.
It is truly sad to read the treatment our Veterans receive from the VA and as a Civilian it really bothers me that this community still has to endure this.
I highly recommend this book, it is a great story that is a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and has a great ending.
I found that I could not put this book down.
I grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia and my Dad was stationed at NAS Oceana as an AT-1 where Gill was stationed early in his career and where the accident happened off the coast of Virginia Beach.
I have surfed at Duck in Nags Head mentioned in the book as well as at Boilers and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and once heard two sonic booms from what I presume were F-14s breaking the sound barrier while surfing off the North Carolina coast when I was in high school.
Gill’s story of his accident, treatment at and by the VA (while all too common among the stories from his fellow Veterans I have read from their books), and his recovery and route to recovery are amazing.
I have read about 145 books since 9/11 about combat and combat wounded Veterans and the stories of opioid addiction and other drug addiction are the same and it's nice to know there are alternative treatments available and it is a shame the VA won't pay for many of them.
It is truly sad to read the treatment our Veterans receive from the VA and as a Civilian it really bothers me that this community still has to endure this.
I highly recommend this book, it is a great story that is a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and has a great ending.
April 9, 2025
Rarely does one read of so much excitement, tragedy, pain, and then rebirth at the other end. Readers will find hope in Gill's story, which mirrors a tale other veterans have experienced. However, Gill offers a host of resources for anyone experiencing similar struggles. His gratitude shines through every page. Bravo Zulu!
August 31, 2025
Read this on a recommendation from a special operator. Really well done especially for a first time author. It feels like one part Top Gun with one part One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest with an dash of recovery and hope for an injured veteran
July 16, 2025
Highly recommended
October 29, 2025
A brutal but beautiful story that will astound you, make you weep with empathy, and leave you with hope.
July 24, 2026
must read
Very very good book!
True American hero , who exemplifies true grit and determination
Fast past easy read for all levels
Very very good book!
True American hero , who exemplifies true grit and determination
Fast past easy read for all levels
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews