Regina Mullen says her son Kyle never got the medical attention he needed, despite the fact that he was coughing up blood. "Supposedly, the medical team just patted on the behind and said, ‘Good job,’” the mom tells Inside Edition.
A grieving mother wants answers after her 24-year-old son made it through what’s known as Navy SEALs Hell Week only to die just hours later.
Regina Mullen says her son Kyle never got the medical attention he needed, despite the fact that he was coughing up blood.
“They said they checked him. It’s impossible. He would have never died hours later if they checked him. Any even non-medical person saw a person spitting up blood, wouldn't you think they need to go to hospital to get checked?” Regina Mullen said.
Kyle Mullen’s lungs were filling up with fluid, and Regina says that some of the other men were asking to have him checked.
“Supposedly, the medical team just patted on the behind and said, ‘Good job,’” Regina said.
The grueling physical and mental endurance tests to become a Navy SEAL actually last three weeks. This year, 210 men started the course and 189 dropped out by the third week. Less than 10% make the cut to join the elite fighting force.
“[Kyle] told me he wanted to do something on a team, something elite,” Regina said.
Kyle Mullen grew up in Manalapan, New Jersey. He was a star athlete in high school and played football for Yale.
“He was the baby of my two, and we were very close — just laugh everyday and dance around the house, and it’s all gone. It’s a big gap in my life,” Regina said.
The Navy has launched an investigation into whether performance-enhancing drugs are routinely taken by Navy SEAL candidates hoping for an edge
Regina says that two toxicology reports, one conducted privately and one done by the Navy, found no such drugs in Kyle’s system.
She says she has tried to meet with the admiral in charge of the SEALs, but he refused.
“I guess he can’t look into the mother’s eyes of the kid that they basically killed,” Regina said.
Since 1953, at least 11 men have died while training to become a Navy SEAL.
