Vienna Demeduk
Day 2 · September 9, 2026 · 0:26:11
Key points Vienna Demeduk, 63, is a massage therapist who did palliative care and was highly athletic, running 20 kilometers every other day with no prior health issues. She says she received one Moderna dose on July 2, 2021, mainly to keep her job and be able to travel to see her children and grandson. On July 4, 2021, she describes feeling a pop in her head, losing her sight and ability to walk, and dragging herself to a neighbor while having a severe cerebellar stroke. She says she suffered a brain hemorrhage days later, then more blood clots and hemorrhages, and now uses a cane after roughly 12 strokes. She says medical staff whispered that she was among several fit young people they were seeing, and a VGH stroke doctor privately acknowledged vaccine injury but said she'd lose her license discussing it. She describes ongoing ataxia, numbness, and extreme fatigue, saying she keeps a 'death book' because a fatal stroke could occur at any time. She testifies to speak for injured people who cannot, and calls the Vaccine Injury Support Program a 'colossal joke,' refusing to redo a lost appeal.
Shawn Buckley
0:02 Our next witness is Vienna Demeduk. 0:04 Vienna, would you take the Bible in your right hand, please? 0:11 Vienna Demeduk, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? 0:21 I'm just going to go through, you know, some of your personal details really quickly. 0:28 You are currently 63. Vienna Demeduk
0:29 Yes, I am. 0:30 You can tell my age. 0:32 That's okay. Shawn Buckley
0:33 You have two daughters and two grandsons. 0:36 You were, before your vaccination, you were a massage therapist. Shawn Buckley
0:42 And you worked literally seven days a week. Vienna Demeduk
0:44 I worked constantly. Vienna Demeduk
0:45 And I did a lot of palliative care at the end before I got injured, which, you know, sounds strange, but I loved it. 0:52 I loved working with people that were that ill. 0:55 Yes. 0:56 Yes. Shawn Buckley
0:56 And you were hugely athletic. 0:58 When you and I spoke, basically you'd go 20 kilometers every other day. 1:03 You swam, you cycled everywhere, you hiked, you kayaked, like you're one of those persons. Vienna Demeduk
1:08 A little nuts, yeah. Shawn Buckley
1:09 Yeah, okay. Vienna Demeduk
1:09 A little bit over the top. Shawn Buckley
1:11 Very fit, absolutely no health issues at all. 1:16 No, no. 1:18 So that changed back on July 2nd, 2021. 1:22 Can you share with us what happened? Vienna Demeduk
1:26 So I had my one and only Moderna shot. 1:30 It was later in the day on that day, I believe. 1:34 The next day I felt okay. 1:37 I mean, I didn't really think about it. 1:39 I was really anxious about having it because I really did not want to have this thing. 1:45 And then the morning of the 4th, July 4th, I woke up to go for one of my 20K runs. 1:52 I was actually meeting some people. Shawn Buckley
1:54 So this is, this is, I think an important point. 1:56 You're actually getting dressed. 1:58 You got your running gear on running for a 20 kilometer run. 2:02 Like, so when you said earlier, like every other day, like you're going to, you're just about to run for 20 kilometers. Vienna Demeduk
2:09 Yeah. 2:09 Running to me was like breathing. 2:11 It kept me alive. 2:12 Like just dissolved any trauma or anything in my life. 2:17 I just run. 2:18 Right. 2:18 But, um, 2:19 That morning, I remember I went to reach for a glass of water like this, and I felt this pop in the back of my head. 2:27 And I remember thinking, oh, God, what fresh hell is this? 2:30 But I knew right away that I was having a stroke. 2:34 And then I lost my sight. 2:36 You have to imagine this. 2:37 I couldn't see. 2:38 So I'm in a condo by myself, and I lost my ability to walk instantly, like instantly. 2:45 And I had to find my way out of the condo. 2:48 I managed to get my phone in my hand. 2:50 And you know how there's an emergency button on the phone? 2:53 I just kept hitting it. 2:55 And I was just, my thought was to try to get to the lobby because we had concierge in the building. 3:02 But it was ridiculous. 3:05 Like I couldn't walk. 3:06 So I got into the hallway and I couldn't crawl either. 3:11 Like I could not move. 3:13 And I started dragging myself. 3:15 And I don't remember a lot of this. 3:17 Like, that's the thing. 3:18 I don't remember talking to people. 3:21 I don't remember so much of it. 3:23 I fell into the neighbor's door. 3:26 And, you know, this young man, I think I traumatized him, but I just told him I'm having a stroke. 3:32 I just had a COVID shot. 3:34 um, cognitively I was very aware, but I was slurring my words. 3:38 So I said, I'm not high. 3:40 You know, I was really, really thin. 3:41 I was super ripped. 3:42 So I said, I'm not strung out on drugs. 3:45 Um, I don't have COVID. 3:47 And then his mom, thank God was there. 3:50 And she called 911 right away. 3:52 And then I, um, started projectile vomiting and it was the type of stroke I had. 3:56 That's why I was throwing up. 3:58 I had a severe cerebellar stroke and, um, 4:04 I don't remember almost anything after that. 4:07 I remember... Can I just slow you down? Shawn Buckley
4:09 Sure. 4:10 What was the emotional experience like? 4:12 You're describing us the physical, but what... Do you know what? Vienna Demeduk
4:16 I didn't even put a thought to that. 4:19 Speaking about it today, there's a lot of trauma, obviously. 4:25 I do remember the woman stroking my hair and she's going, oh, please don't die, sweetheart. 4:30 Please don't die. 4:31 I guess she thought I was going to die. 4:32 And 4:36 I do remember the paramedics coming and they, because I was so fit, they're like, okay, let's see you walk. 4:41 And there was very clear that wasn't going to happen. 4:45 And then when I, I think I was just in and out of it all day. 4:50 Like I got to, I was in the ER. 4:55 I remember five doctors, head of DGH, like Vancouver General Hospital Stroke Clinic. 5:04 She came in and spoke to me. 5:06 there was just a whole bunch of them telling me I'd had a really severe stroke. 5:11 And, um, I thought, okay, you know, I just, I, I can't describe stroke to anybody because it is beyond what you can imagine. 5:22 It's, there's just no way to put into words when you've had a stroke like that capacity. 5:29 Right. 5:30 Um, 5:31 I think I told you on the phone when I woke up, I was, um, it was dark out and my daughter, my oldest daughter was there. 5:37 I was in the ICU. 5:39 Um, I remember trying to act all normal, like, you know, no big deal. 5:44 Mom's in the ICU. 5:46 I was trying to make it better for, you know, cause I can imagine how traumatizing that was for her. 5:52 And I don't think she realized I couldn't see. 5:55 So I couldn't see her, but I could hear her. 5:58 And, uh, 5:59 I thought it was just an hour later, but it must have been, like you pointed out, it must have been late at night. 6:04 So I must have been out for hours. 6:06 But when I woke up, I mean, I was naked. 6:08 There was just tubes attached to me, monitors everywhere. 6:12 And I thought, whoa, you know, this is... 6:15 It's hard. 6:15 Like, you kind of are in massive denial. 6:17 Because I thought, yeah, just give me, you know, a couple of weeks, I'll probably be, you know... 6:21 I just couldn't comprehend. 6:24 And that was the beginning of the nightmare, right? 6:27 And... 6:30 Then I went, I was in the ICU because I had a brain hemorrhage three days later, which is called a hemorrhagic transformation. 6:37 So it's when you bleed around the original stroke site. 6:40 And that set me back quite a bit. 6:43 I think, you know, then everyone kind of started whispering and this neurosurgeon was like, oh, no big deal. 6:48 I can go in there and stop the bleed. 6:50 Like he was very matter of fact about it, but. 6:54 Then eventually I got moved to, I think, like a step down kind of acute care neurology floor. 7:00 And then eventually I went to Jeff Strong Rehab Hospital in Vancouver. 7:05 And if you end up at Jeff Strong, you have had a catastrophic injury. 7:09 It's like, yeah, it's like the most depressing place because everybody is so severely injured. 7:16 And I started learning how to work. 7:19 walk again i couldn't look after myself i was catheterized i couldn't use the washroom on my own um when i got to gf that was finished with but it was still um i was in a wheelchair i know it's hard you look at me like i think dean mentioned that that we all appear a lot of us just to be totally fine but um it was uh the whole thing is just catastrophic it's like and then i had 7:46 Less than a month later, I had three more blood clots and ended up back in the ER and another brain hemorrhage. 7:53 The original doctor that saw me, I remember her whispering like, oh, what is she doing back in here? 7:58 And I remember yelling at her going, well, because you kind of didn't address the real reason I'm in here. 8:04 It was a giant white elephant everywhere I went. 8:07 Like at GF Strong, nobody was talking about it. 8:10 Not one doctor addressed it. 8:14 The head stroke doc at BGH did tell me in private that she would lose her license if she spoke about it. 8:20 I said, but you're willing to let me die, right? Shawn Buckley
8:22 I just want to be clear so that the head stroke doctor. Shawn Buckley
8:27 At which hospital? Shawn Buckley
8:28 At Victoria General Hospital. Vienna Demeduk
8:30 It was Vancouver. Shawn Buckley
8:31 Vancouver. 8:31 Okay. Vienna Demeduk
8:31 Yeah. 8:32 I had more strokes in Victoria General too. Shawn Buckley
8:34 Right. 8:34 Right. 8:35 That's my confusion. Vienna Demeduk
8:36 I'm laughing, but it's so ridiculous when you think about it. Shawn Buckley
8:40 Is telling you verbally. 8:41 So like face to face. 8:42 Yeah. 8:43 Yeah. 8:43 This is vaccine injury. Vienna Demeduk
8:45 Yeah. 8:45 But she said she couldn't talk about it and everyone would whisper. 8:48 It was actually the CT guys the first few days. 8:52 when I was in the ICU and they were taking me down, like in one of those giant nets, cause I couldn't walk, right. 8:56 It's like a giant hammock cause they can't lift you. 9:00 Um, they were whispering all the time that you're like the seventh person this week. 9:05 That's super physically fit. 9:07 They were seeing it. 9:08 They were seeing young people like me. 9:10 Well, youngish at the time, uh, maybe not so much anymore. 9:13 Um, but that were injured and young, like super athletic people, especially. 9:20 And, um, 9:22 I said, why are we all whispering? 9:23 Like, I had no idea. 9:24 I was so naive about what was going on. 9:27 Like, so naive. 9:29 And I mean, why would I think otherwise? 9:33 Like, you know, I just thought some of these people must have your back, right? 9:36 But no, it was crazy. 9:38 And ultrasound scanners and MRI people, they were the ones that were telling me what they were seeing. 9:43 You know, and it's hard to fathom. 9:47 like for anybody listening to this outside of the people that are injured, I understand. 9:51 It is really hard to fathom the level of, I don't even know what to call it. 9:56 It's like this evil. 9:58 It's like levels of corruption. 10:00 And the medical doctors that were willing to speak to me about, it was always when there was no one else in the room and it, 10:07 The stuff they put in my medical files are so redacted. 10:10 Like it's not even truthful. 10:13 Like they just, they redacted my entire medical file from VGH hospital. 10:20 Yeah, the level of corruption you kind of uncover, like it's just sort of, it's so beyond, like I live in a completely different reality. 10:28 like I'm in some other reality with all these other injured people. 10:32 And it's like, you better be strong to deal with this mentally because it is like so hard to comprehend. 10:39 There's literally no one has your back. 10:41 And like Michelle was saying, the medical gaslighting is so beyond belief. 10:47 Like you feel like you're in the twilight zone constantly, you know, and you literally can't get any help. 10:52 So I went a couple of years where 10:56 I only saw one doctor at GF who I had, you know, I respect hugely because he just stood by my side. 11:06 He was, I think he was scared because I literally had no one following me medically at all. 11:11 Like no one doing follow-up MRIs. 11:13 Like they did the bare minimum you do with stroke, but that was it. 11:17 And then, like I said, I moved to Victoria last year. 11:21 trying to go back to my job. 11:23 They told me I would never work again. 11:24 I have CPP disability and I have a permanent disability tax credit, but I was so determined. 11:32 I thought, I'm just gonna try. 11:33 I wanted so much to just have some type of normalcy in my life again, like something that I used to do. 11:39 And this lovely woman in Victoria that owns three clinics, she was supposed to hire me before this all happened. 11:46 She said, let's just give it a go. 11:48 So I was gonna work one day a week 11:50 on two people, and then I had three more strokes, and it was shocking to me, because I thought, okay, maybe I'm past this, right? 11:59 But I hadn't had an MRI in three or four years, like zero medical follow-up, and they had found, there was all these blood clots in my head, ones I didn't even know I had, so I'd been having strokes 12:12 And they were smaller strokes, but people have to understand I had so much deficit from the first major strokes I had. 12:20 It's very hard unless it's super obvious. 12:22 Like then I couldn't tell, was I worse or, you know. Shawn Buckley
12:26 Can we talk about that? 12:27 Because today, I mean, you've gone from running 20 kilometers every other day. 12:32 Now you walk with a cane. Vienna Demeduk
12:35 Yes. 12:35 And I got to the point where I almost could ditch my cane when I moved to Victoria and I worked at the, I, oh my God, it was just a full-time job. 12:44 I was doing a program up at UBC with kinesiology students. 12:48 And, you know, you have to understand too that a lot of the, a cerebellar stroke is actually quite rare. 12:54 Um, apparently it's like 1% of the population and I had three of them in that same area. 13:01 Um, 13:02 So even the physios at GF Strong didn't really know how to rehab someone like me. 13:08 I wasn't your typical stroke patient. Shawn Buckley
13:09 And I just want to focus you because I just want you to be talking about your limitations today. Vienna Demeduk
13:14 So my limitations today. 13:15 So like I said, when I had more strokes living in Victoria, there was zero medical help on the island. 13:22 So it took me five months to see their stroke doctor. 13:25 But... 13:26 because I had had this happen over and over again, I kind of knew I had to just get right back into dragging myself out, walking, doing what I could do. 13:34 You have to keep moving. 13:35 You have to be physically active when you've had a stroke. 13:38 That's where being an athlete like that saved my butt because I was able to have enough strength to get out of a wheelchair. 13:47 But yeah, so now after those strokes, that has slowed me down a lot. 13:51 So now I have to use a cane 13:53 the fatigue from the strokes is beyond belief. 13:57 It's not like anything you can imagine. 13:59 Like it's, I don't, I don't know how to describe that. 14:04 Like that's the heart, that's the invisible part you don't see because, you know, I'm animated. 14:09 I'm like, you know, I have a huge sense of humor when I'm talking. 14:14 I probably, especially to my family, I make myself look like I'm pretty good. 14:19 Don't worry about me. 14:20 It's okay. 14:21 I'm okay. 14:21 But 14:23 The reality is, is that I'm exhausted. 14:26 Like, I'm exhausted by the mental stress of this. 14:30 I'm exhausted by the physical. 14:33 Like, learning to walk again and care for yourself. 14:37 Like, some of the doctors I've met, they just don't know why I'm here. 14:42 They just don't know how I'm not dead. 14:43 Because I have had almost, I think, 12 strokes now. 14:47 I'm going back to Vancouver next week to have another MRI because I haven't had one in a year. 14:52 I had a stroke in January and they didn't nothing. 14:54 They do nothing. 14:55 They've told me now that they don't even know they won't do anything anymore. 14:58 They're not going to do anything else. 14:59 Right. 15:00 I can't take blood thinners because if I take blood thinners, my brain bleeds. 15:04 And that's because of the nature of the clots I'm having. 15:07 They're unique to this shot. 15:10 You know, I had one doctor in Victoria and I won't say his name. 15:13 Who's helping people. 15:14 He's a young internal medicine doc. 15:16 And my heart goes out to him. 15:17 When I met him, I was more concerned about him. 15:21 Um, 15:22 Because, yeah, he's, you know, he's just been put through the wringer. Shawn Buckley
15:26 And I just, I want to focus you again on a couple of things. 15:30 So, because I just want people to appreciate it's not just walking. Shawn Buckley
15:33 I mean, like washing your hair is difficult. Vienna Demeduk
15:35 I can't. 15:36 This hand, I have severe ataxia in it. 15:38 Like I can't, I have no smooth movement in this hand. 15:41 This one's normal. 15:42 But that seems like not a big deal. 15:44 But it doesn't coordinate with the rest of my body. 15:46 And my leg does the same thing. 15:48 So when I'm walking or I smash dishes a lot because things are just whacking around all the time, but I make it look easy because I'm so focused. 15:58 Like everything I do is probably 100,000 times more difficult than anybody else. 16:04 I've learned not to pick things up with my left hand because I can't learn that. 16:09 And this hand's totally numb. 16:11 This whole right side of me is numb and tingly, and it's probably from the brain bleeds because they extended outside the cerebellar area. 16:18 So it affected not just my left, but my right as well. 16:22 And I can't feel my feet very well when I'm walking. 16:26 And I can only wear bloodstone boots, which sounds hysterical, but I learned to walk in those. 16:31 So my brain doesn't recognize like a different pair of shoes. 16:34 I can ride a bike. 16:36 And so everyone thinks, oh, wow, she's good. 16:39 I can ride a bike, which is kind of fascinating because of the strokes I had. 16:44 My center of gravity is different on a bike. 16:46 It's terrifying. 16:47 I mean, I've crashed so many times, but I'm determined to do it because I find with the strokes I've had, 16:56 It might just be sheer stupidity on my part, but I pushed myself through it. 17:00 So it's the only way to get better from stroke. 17:04 Like, you can't be fearful of the rehab portion of it. 17:09 But it's brutal. 17:12 It's like some weird dream. 17:14 I don't have pictures of that because I didn't want to be videotaped. 17:18 Like, when I was at GF Strong, it was just, it was, that was tough to look at. Shawn Buckley
17:24 You know, I'm just going to cut you short again and ask you one last question. 17:28 And of course, in peace, I'll have questions for you. 17:31 Why is it important for you to be here today and share your story? Vienna Demeduk
17:36 You know what? 17:36 It's important for I've shared my story many times and I'm not I'm very open about it because, you know, I'm walking. 17:44 I look pretty gimpy. 17:45 People ask me. 17:46 They always think I've had my hip replaced. 17:48 I'll tell them what's happened. 17:49 And most of the time it's like deer caught in headlights, right? 17:52 It's like, well, they don't want to talk about this, right? 17:55 But there were people that I've met on this journey that literally don't have a voice. 18:00 Like one of my good friends, I won't say his name at GF, he has aphasia from strokes. 18:05 He can't speak at all. 18:06 And clearly I can speak. 18:08 So I want to speak on behalf of him and all injured people. 18:15 There's people here who have been with me the last day. 18:19 or so that because of lack of time, they're not speaking. 18:25 But I want to speak for those injuries because you know what? 18:28 I have injuries that are obvious. 18:30 Like you can look at an MRI, you can see all the clots. 18:33 These people that don't even have that type of black and white kind of situation, I just feel my heart goes out to them. 18:43 I can't even get any kind of help, right? 18:45 Like what has happened to me is a death sentence. 18:48 That is the reality. 18:50 Like I literally have a death book at home. 18:52 I've got like where I'm going, what I'm doing, my passwords to stuff because I can die. 18:58 Like I could have a stroke right now and you guys are going to have to deal with that. 19:02 But it's happened so many times to me that I never know when it's going to happen, how it's going to happen. 19:10 I can just be. 19:11 Just sitting there having a cup of tea, I had a stroke, right? 19:14 So that's the reality I live under every single day. 19:19 And do I think anything's going to come out of this? 19:21 I don't know. 19:21 I appreciate, Dean, that you're doing this. 19:24 It's huge. 19:25 And for you, showing up to this is important. 19:28 And you, of course, Sean, it was wonderful to meet you. 19:32 But I don't know that it's going to go anywhere. 19:34 And everything Michelle said about that vaccine injury support program, I mean, that thing is a colossal joke. 19:40 I mean... 19:41 They've asked me now to redo my appeal, you know, because they don't have they've lost it. 19:47 I know I'm not going to I am not going to do this again. 19:52 No, I you know, the amount of the work you have to put into and I live alone. 19:58 I'm by myself. 19:59 Like I had to do all of this by myself, all of it. 20:02 the rehab process of it, all of it. 20:05 And I'm okay with that. 20:06 I'm tough, but I'm not going to do the appeal again. 20:09 I'm not even going to bother, but I want you to know how bad that program is. 20:14 It's beyond bad. 20:15 I can't even describe this. 20:17 Anyway, I'm here also, like I said, to maybe make a difference. 20:22 I don't know. Shawn Buckley
20:23 Just because I want the MPs to have an opportunity to ask some questions. Vienna Demeduk
20:26 Okay, thank you. Shawn Buckley
20:27 Thank you. MP Mike Dawson
20:31 Thank you for being here to testify and tell your story. 20:34 You said you had one vaccine? Vienna Demeduk
20:36 One. 20:36 I had Moderna, yes. MP Mike Dawson
20:38 Were you worried about getting the vaccine before you got it? Vienna Demeduk
20:42 Yeah, I didn't want to take it. MP Mike Dawson
20:43 You didn't want to take it? Vienna Demeduk
20:44 No, absolutely not. MP Mike Dawson
20:46 What changed your mind? Vienna Demeduk
20:47 There was a lot of things going on in my private life that I won't speak about that I wanted to be financially secure. 20:53 stable as I was moving through that. 20:56 And I was good at what I did and I could have done it for many years, especially with how physically fit I was. 21:03 And then that was taken from me, but it was mainly to keep my job. 21:07 Yeah. 21:08 And I also worked full-time in Winnipeg at a clinic and I couldn't get on a plane to do my job right. 21:13 It was almost all that because I just thought this is insane. 21:18 Like an emergency use authorization for a shot that 21:23 No, you know, it's just, it's one thing to do that, but to mandate it was a huge issue for me. 21:30 Like, and where I made the biggest mistake was trusting the media, even slightly, because I thought I would have seen more injury. 21:39 Like, I was so naive back then, but I'm not anymore. 21:42 You know, I had to go down that, take that lid off Pandora's box. MP Mike Dawson
21:47 I think a lot of people feel the same way with not wanting the vaccine. 21:53 But in order to have a daily life where you go to work, keep your job. Vienna Demeduk
21:58 It was mainly for work and to see my children in Winnipeg and my grandson at the time. MP Mike Dawson
22:03 I feel your pain. 22:04 I was in construction. 22:05 I couldn't. 22:06 I live in Brunswick. MP Mike Dawson
22:08 I had projects in Nova Scotia and PEI. Vienna Demeduk
22:10 Right. MP Mike Dawson
22:11 And we weren't allowed to cross the border into Nova Scotia. MP Mike Dawson
22:14 When you had jobs, you had to get finished. 22:18 I had to get the vaccines in order to keep working. 22:21 So I feel... Vienna Demeduk
22:23 concerns and why you had to get it well it was the one time in my life i didn't analyze things to death either i just thought okay i'm just gonna go with it i'm just gonna i'm gonna do this i'll be the guinea pig let's see what happens and it did not end well i mean you know it's um yeah like i said it's it's like thank god i have a huge sense of humor because i just think back on it and i just think it's like it's you can't even write make this stuff up like you know and um 22:53 Luckily, Sean reigns me in because, yeah, there's just so much more to that story. 22:56 But, yeah. MP Mike Dawson
23:00 It is unfortunate because we leave it up to the medical professionals to tell us it's safe. 23:06 And then when we hear the stories over and over and over again, that it wasn't safe for everyone. Vienna Demeduk
23:12 I didn't believe it was safe, actually. 23:14 But that's where, you know. 23:17 if I could go back in time, but I can't because, um, you know, this is, this is my path right now. 23:23 Here I am, you know, like, it's very surreal. 23:26 It didn't seem like this is something that I'm going to do, but, um, like, I appreciate you're here and, um, the ones that have showed up and I just think, well, what can you do going forward? 23:38 Like, what do you see yourself doing going forward? MP Mike Dawson
23:42 Well, I've had meetings before, before we, Dean asked me about the inquiry. Vienna Demeduk
23:47 Right. MP Mike Dawson
23:47 And I've met with some doctors that don't want their name to be told. MP Mike Dawson
23:54 I've met with funeral directors that tell us about what they deal with with blood clots in their profession. 24:02 And I've met with people like yourself that have been through the process with injuries and they seem to hit roadblocks and can't get anywhere. 24:12 Right. 24:13 I think for us as MPs, we've got to take these stories and go back and talk to the other MPs and bring it forward for everyone. 24:19 And it's great that there's so many independent media outlets here this week to tell your stories and get it out to the public to let them know. 24:30 I've got a couple more questions. 24:32 How has it affected your family through the process? Vienna Demeduk
24:40 Do you know what? MP Mike Dawson
24:42 At that time... Because at the end of the day, family, everybody relies on family when they get in tough situations. Vienna Demeduk
24:49 You know, it's funny, like, I know they're hugely supportive. 24:56 I don't want to speak for them, but I sometimes wonder, like, everybody took those shots. 25:00 My family took those because when I was in the ICU... 25:04 the doctors were constantly telling them that, you know, you've got to protect your mom. 25:08 She's, you know, like, so yeah, everybody had these shots and I worry every day about them. 25:16 It's, it's funny. 25:17 Like my family's almost really silent about it. 25:20 My sister was the only one who didn't take the shot in our family. 25:24 And, you know, like she said, she felt she had more of a choice. 25:28 She was retired. 25:29 She lived in a small town. 25:30 She didn't, 25:31 You have to travel to make that choice. Shawn Buckley
25:34 I'm sorry, I have to cut you off. 25:36 Yes. 25:36 Bring another witness in. Vienna Demeduk
25:38 For sure. Shawn Buckley
25:38 I don't want to be that person to tell someone at the end of the day. Vienna Demeduk
25:41 You can tell me to shut up. Shawn Buckley
25:43 Oh, no. 25:44 You know what? Vienna Demeduk
25:46 Thank you for your questions. Shawn Buckley
25:48 This is being streamed around the world. Shawn Buckley
25:50 And I think the entire world appreciates your sense of humor and your courage. 25:55 You sit here with a smile and a very courageous smile. 25:59 and yet you've shared with us a journey that shows a real depth of character, and we're honored. Vienna Demeduk
26:04 Thank you. 26:05 I appreciate it. 26:06 I appreciate being chosen to come and speak.