On any given day, paramedics are called into chaos—heart attacks, car crashes, overdoses, and everything in between. For Aaron Westfall, those emergencies too often involve the painful grip of addiction. But instead of only seeing tragedy, he chooses to see the person behind the struggle.
That’s because Aaron has been there himself. He not only battled his own addiction, but also survived brain cancer—twice—endured abuse, and mourned the devastating loss of the person he loved most as a child. His life has been shaped by pain most of us can hardly imagine.
Yet through it all, Aaron has found resilience, purpose, and a way to help others. On this episode of Grieving Out Loud, he shares how he turned unimaginable hardships into hope—and what he wants you to understand about addiction from his perspective as both a paramedic and a survivor.
If you enjoyed this episode, you may like the following:
- Stopping The Sigma: A look at Medications For Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) or Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)
- A paramedic’s harrowing shift from lifesaver to bereaved mother in the fentanyl crisis
- A Childhood Shaped by Loss, a Life Reclaimed in Sobriety
MEET THE GUEST
Aaron Westfall
Aaron Westfall is a paramedic from the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia with 21 years of experience in emergency services. Placed in state custody at age seven, he endured trauma, battled addiction to opioids, fentanyl, and heroin, and survived two overdoses. A two-time cancer survivor and proud member of the LGBTQ community, Aaron has been sober for nine years and now uses his experiences to help others heal.
