Navy SEAL Sr. Chief Mike Day had never been shot before, but that changed dramatically one night in April 2007. He survived, but that night changed his life permanently.
Firefight with al-Qaeda insurgents
On April 6, 2007, Mike Day was caught in a brutal firefight with three al-Qaeda insurgents after he was the first of his team to enter a room in a town near Fallujah, Iraq. The enemy fighters opened fire, hitting Day with 27 separate bullets. His body armor stopped eleven shots, but 16 penetrated his body and left him perilously wounded.
A grenade exploded just 10 feet away, knocking him unconscious. According to Mike Day, when he woke up roughly a minute later, he killed two fighters with his pistol.
“Upon entering that doorway, they all just opened up on me. It felt like somebody was beating me up with sledgehammers,” Day said.
“After I’d figured out I was getting shot, I said, ‘God, get me home to my girls.’ That was my first prayer to God, an honest prayer. When the fighting finally stopped, he miraculously got up and walked to a medical helicopter.
“People hear about my story, and they can’t believe it. I was there, and I can’t believe it,” Day said. “I got shot 27 times – 16 in the body and 11 times in my body armor. ”
“I was shot in both legs, both arms, my left thumb was almost amputated, I was shot in the abdomen and had a colostomy bag for a year, my right scapula was shattered, I was shot twice in the buttocks, once in the scrotum and my body armor was hit multiple times which caused fractured ribs and contusions on my lungs.”
Rehabilitation
The Navy SEAL spent just 16 days in the hospital – during which time he lost just under four stone – before he was discharged and awarded the Purple Heart, the oldest military decoration still given to serving military members in the US. During the following years, he was treated for PTSD by the Carrick Brain Centers in Dallas.
He wrote the book “Perfectly Wounded” which has become a bestseller.
I’m really lost at what to say. I’m so grateful he’s still with us. Bless him and his family.
Thank you for your service. Thank God he brought you home to your family.
Thank you for your service. God bless
Please do run for Governor of Virginia. We need to fight back and not let Communist take out country. We need a fighter. You will win. America will win.
Thanks be to God for bringing him home to his family and allowing his amazing story of heroism to be shared with an America losing its way.
Thank you sir, for your service and your story. And thank you to your family, for enduring your time away and for the effort in healing. Your story is an incredible inspiration. God has blessed you and your family, and may he continue to do so. In these trying political and social times, it is a blessing to be reminded of real sacrifice.
That’s one helluva warrior story. Thank you for your service to your country. God bless you and your family.
Mike can only say that you are a survivor …well one
i just want to thank you for your service…you story really touched my heart and i am so thankful you lived to tell it.. may God continue to richly bless you and your family. we need more people like you sir!
I don’t quite think “Thank you for Your Service” covers this one Sir!
I was 5th hand..telling a friend one teeny weeny tiny anecdote of a part of YOUR GUY’s training in order to earn and then have YOUR GUY’S “skillset”…”Ready for ANYTHING 24/7/365.”
Water-treading Stamina Exercises…”Who jumps in to save the drowning Life Guard?? OK..Who jumps in to save the drowning WORLD?! The SEALS! Who jumps in to save a drowning SEAL?? NO ONE! A SEAL does not DROWN! :-)
Red, White, and Blue..YOU GUYS illustrate OUR Colors do not RUN!