Solon McGill

Background

About Solon McGill

I'm a dead man, or at least I'm supposed to be. In 2018 I was running a combat fitness test when a coronary artery ruptured. I kept running. This triggered a massive heart attack, but I didn't go to the hospital for over 24 hours. Once there, they told me the LAD artery had spontaneously dissected, triggering a "Widow maker" heart attack. It is normally unsurvivable and the damage to the heart was severe. They were shocked I was alive, especially sinceI didn't go in right away. It is a freak occurrence similar to an aneurysm and there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. I was told my life would be changed forever. With the severe damage and completely blocked artery, my running days were over. I would probably never work as a Marine or police officer again. My physical activity would be severely limited. All I could think was,"We'll see about that." I fought, I pushed, I worked. I refused to quit. Every week I would ask the cardiologist not what he would normally tell a patient, but what the max I could do physically was without dying and I did that over and over. I slowly regained my strength and most of my endurance. I returned to full duty with the police department. I did what they said was impossible. I made it to the SWAT team. Since the day I would never run again, I have run several thousand miles, carried heavy packs up mountains, done BJJ and Muay Thai, lived every minute like it mattered. I am #deadmanrunning I am #invictus. Education: Bachelor's degree in history from UW Madison. Graduate Certificate from the US Naval War College. Master's degree in Law Enforcement and Crime Prevention from University of Cincinnati. Military: Retired Marine LtCol with both active and reserve time. I started out in Air Defense Control and Aviation Command and Control, took provisional security platoons overseas for OIF, then went to the infantry, serving with rifle and weapons platoons, a fire support team, and an infantry company, deploying again for OIF. Later on, I got the Civil Affairs MOS and served with a civil affairs group before deploying again doing lethal targeting in the fight against ISIS. Law Enforcement: Experience in patrol, proactive violent crimes units, human remains (cadaver) K9 handler, gang enforcement and investigations and SWAT. I have been an instructor in multiple law enforcement disciplines in both WI and NV.