The Navy SEAL Who Survived 27 Bullet Wounds in Fallujah

By 2007, Navy SEAL Senior Chief Mike Day had already carried out hundreds of missions. He was seasoned, disciplined, and prepared for the dangers of combat. But nothing could have foretold what would happen during a raid in April of that year in Fallujah, Iraq.

Day’s team had been tasked with storming an al-Qaeda hideout. The operation began like countless others—fast, precise, and deadly serious. But when Day stepped into one particular room, his world changed in an instant.

“As I pivoted off my right foot to move down the left wall,” he later recalled, “I had the sensation that my body was being slammed with a dozen sledgehammers. It was surreal, like something out of a movie.”

Inside the room, insurgents had opened fire at point-blank range. Bullets ripped through the air, striking Day again and again. Sixteen rounds tore into his body. Another eleven slammed into his body armor, which was only designed to withstand a single hit.

Most men would not have survived the first volley. But somehow, Day remained standing.

Fueled by instinct and training, he returned fire. In the chaos, he killed all of the enemy fighters who had ambushed him. Only when the shooting stopped did he realize the true scope of his injuries.

When his teammates rushed in, their faces told the story his body could not. They stared in shock at a man who had absorbed 27 bullets and was still alive.

Day’s survival remains one of the most extraordinary testaments to human resilience and military grit in modern warfare. His story is not just about combat, but about endurance, courage, and the will to keep fighting against impossible odds.