Ep. 51 Navy SEAL Jeff‘s American Story

Jeff Gum grew up in a small town located in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsyvania.  He had an idyllic childhood, living on a 100 acre dairy farm.

At 8 years old, Jeff's world was shattered when his father was killed in a traffic accident.  Immediately Jeff assumed the role of protector for his sister, brother, and mother.

At 16 with an injured ACL, Jeff discovered the Navy SEALS.  He was laser focused on becoming a SEAL.  Jeff was only a senior in high school on September 11, 2001, but that day reinforced 100 fold his determination to become a SEAL.

Jeff's road to accomplishing his goal was a hard one.  As part of class 270, Jeff was about to begin hell week when he became extremely ill with gastroenteritis.  Through sheer determination, Jeff refused to quit, but his body would not cooperate.  

Jeff had not failed once during BUDS, until his illness.  Jeff developed rhabdomyolysis, a serious blood disorder.

Jeff was forced to take two weeks of leave to heal and relax.  

Jeff came back stronger, feeling like Superman.  He graduated with the class of 272, assigned to SEAL Team 5 and later as instructor for SEAL trainees.

Jeff served two deployments, one in Iraq, and the second with a crises management team throughout Europe.

It was during the second deployment Jeff injured his back and required spine surgery.  After several reinjuries, he made the decision to leave the Navy SEALS after 10 years of service.

Jeff refocused his energy and goals.  Jeff earned his masters and founded the popular swim line, Sunga Life.  You can visit Jeff's website and visit sunga.life on Instagram.

Jeff is active in veterans causes and organizations including:

https://forceblueteam.org/ Hudson SEAL Swim https://www.adaptivetrainingfoundation.org/ https://www.wakeforwarriors.org/

 

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