Vice President JD Vance delivered an emotional speech to firefighters, recounting his childhood experiences with his mother’s long struggle with opioid addiction. He described calling 911 during crises in Middletown, Ohio, where compassionate firefighters and an EMT intervened, calming situations, saving her from a severe overdose, and providing support that made him feel less alone.
He expressed profound gratitude, noting his mother has been clean and sober for over 11 years, celebrating her 10-year milestone in the White House West Wing as a testament to the American Dream. Vance credited first responders nationwide for enabling second chances and family recovery.
Starting off his touching comments, the VP began, “You know, a couple of times I was one of those scared little kids who had to call the firefighters, who had to call the EMTs. You know, my own mother struggled with opioid addiction for a very large chunk of my life, and I remember when she was having a particularly dark moment, and she needed some help.”
“I needed some help. Our family needed some help. I picked up the phone. I called 911, and a number of brave, professional, compassionate firefighters from Middletown, Ohio, showed up, and they called my mom down, and they made it possible for us to go on with the rest of our day,” Vance explained.
Building on this point, JD Vance explained, “They made a kid who was scared to death feel like he had an ally in this world. I will never forget that. I will never forget also when we had to call 911, it wasn’t a firefighter. Was an EMT who came and took my mom to the hospital because she had had a very terrible overdose, and I remember holding her hand, hoping to God that she would be okay, that she would wake up.”
Adding a personal touch to his comments, he added, “We know a lot of our people have not woken up when they have those opioid overdoses, but by the grace of God, my mom did wake up, and by the way, she’s now been clean and sober for north of 11 years. We celebrated her 10-year sobriety.”
“We celebrated her 10 years of sobriety in the West Wing of the White House. What an incredible testament to the American Dream that a woman I thought would never live to meet my children is now the best grandmother to those children that they could ever ask for,” he explained.
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JD said, “And we celebrated that sobriety in the people’s White House. But that moment, those many moments of second chances that we’ve gotten with my mom, and I love you, Mom, if you’re watching this, she probably is. She watches everything. I don’t know why, but she does.”
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Concluding his comments, the Vice President added, “But mom, we would not have gotten that second chance, were it not for the firefighters all across our country, for the EMT specialists all across our country, who make it possible for second chances again and again and again.”
Featured image from embedded video