Five months after removing his 20-year-old son from life support, Pierre Mousseau drove toward a tree at 150 kilometres an hour. He pulled over at the last moment and wept on the side of the road.
On March 31st, he won first place at Speaker Slam® Breakthrough 2026, the second qualifier of North America's largest inspirational speaking competition.
Five Months After Parker
Parker Mousseau was 20 years old when he died in December 2020, at the height of COVID lockdowns. The restrictions had kept Pierre from his son's bedside throughout his illness. When doctors said nothing more could be done, Pierre made the decision to remove him from life support.
As the machines were being disconnected, Parker looked at his father and said, "Dad, I'm getting better. I'm coming home."
Pierre smiled and told him he was right.
Five months later, Pierre got into his Mustang and told his wife Patricia he wasn't coming back. He drove north on Innis Lake Road, picked out a maple tree, and pushed the car to 150 kilometres an hour.
Parker's face appeared in his mind. Then Patricia. Then everyone who loved him. The car slowed. He pulled over and wept on the side of the road.
The Path Back
The drive didn't end his despair. It continued for years.
One day, Pierre decided to go to church. He wasn't sure why.
"I'm sitting there with my head down saying to myself, what am I doing here?" Mousseau later told CTV News Toronto. "A deacon comes up and does his homily, and he spoke about the loss of a child. If that's not divine intervention, then I don't know what is."
He eventually saw a psychotherapist, who he says helped him put things into perspective. He wrote From the Ashes, published through Parker Legacy in honour of his son. Then in March 2026, he stood on the Speaker Slam® stage and shared the story publicly for the first time.
Breakthrough Is Presence
Mousseau delivered a five-minute speech titled "Right Now," centered on the moment he chose to stay and what he has learned about presence in the years since.
"Could you pull the plug if it was your child?" he asked the audience. Then he told them what losing Parker taught him: that the moments we keep putting off are the only ones we actually have.
He closed with a question: "Are you here?"
After he walked off stage, a woman stopped him, hugged him, and said: "Thank you for tonight. I just want you to know that tonight you saved a life."
"I'm almost getting into tears talking to you," Mousseau told CTV News when recounting the moment. "It was an aha moment."
Featured by CTV News Toronto
CTV News Toronto's Pauline Chan profiled Mousseau's win in an April 3rd segment titled "Vaughan Entrepreneur Honors Son's Legacy with Speaker Slam Win." The segment explored his path from despair to public sharing and amplified the message he says is especially for men.
"Men tend to bottle things in," Mousseau told CTV. "The opinion is that men have to be strong. But strong is actually being vulnerable."
He told the reporter that the goal isn't the competition.
"If I can just impact one person. My book did that. Speaker Slam® did that. And maybe this does it too. That's the goal. And that's healing for me."
Breakthrough
Breakthrough was the second of five qualifier competitions in Speaker Slam®'s 10th anniversary season, each building toward the Grand Slam: Inspirational Speaking Finals in November. The event drew a full house to Lula Lounge on March 31st, with speakers traveling from across Ontario and Quebec.
Sofranie Trencia, a former Tae Kwon-Do World Champion from Montreal, placed second. She shared the story of falling 30 feet from aerial silk at the world's largest circus festival and choosing to climb back up.
Duncan Brown, a first-time competitor from Toronto, placed third.
Pierre Mousseau's Winning Speech: "Right Now"
Below is the transcript of Pierre Mousseau's winning five-minute speech, delivered live at Lula Lounge in Toronto on March 31, 2026.
Right Now. Pierre Mousseau.
It was a cool Saturday morning in May of 2021 where, to the outside world, everything looked normal. But on the inside, mine was falling apart.
I had just finished my morning coffee. I got up. I grabbed my car keys. I made my way to the garage door. And as I gently opened it, from a distance, I heard my wife say, "When will you be back?"
I bowed my head and under my breath I whispered, "I'm not coming back."
Five months prior to that, my 20-year-old son Parker died. Five months since I last held him. Five months where COVID restrictions would not allow me to see him the way a parent should.
Five months. Five months where I had to make the decision that no parent should ever have to make and remove him off life support.
And although the doctors told me that there was nothing left they could do, in my heart, in my heart it felt like I had just killed my own son.
I want you to think about this for a moment. And I want you to visualize yourself in a hospital room with your child and you have to pull the plug. Could you... could you pull the plug?
And as the nurses were removing the wires and the machines, Parker was surrounded by family and he got this burst of energy. And with that infectious smile and those big brown eyes of his, he looked at me and he said, "Dad, look, Dad. I'm getting better. I'm coming home."
And while I fought back the tears, I had to put a smile on my face and lie to him and say, "Yes, son, you are."
That Saturday morning, I got into my Mustang with the top down, the cool air, and the empty roads. And as I made my way out into the country up north on Innis Lake Road, out in the distance, I saw it. A big maple tree.
Oh, it was solid. It was massive. And it was unmoving. And I said to myself, that's it. My pain ends today.
I dropped her into fourth gear, fifth gear, faster into sixth, 150 km an hour. And that tree got real close, real fast. And I was ready.
And that's when I saw him. Not in the middle of the road, but in my mind, it was Parker with that big heart of his that oozed love. My wife, my family, my friends, my employees, all these people that cared about me, loved me, and counted on me.
And without even realizing it, the car had slowed to a crawl. And there I was, broken down into tears on the side of the road.
Now, I know, listen, that is not what Ford had in mind when he built that car. I mean, that car is built for speed, not for tears, right?
At that moment is when I realized that breakthrough isn't this big flashy moment or this clap of thunder. It's quiet. It's silent. It's a moment on the side of a road.
Breakthrough is presence.
Everyone here tonight knows what it's like to be busy but not be here. We're thinking about yesterday. We're worrying about tomorrow. We're scrolling through our lives without living it.
I used to come home from work and be there, but not really be there. But since Parker died, I don't live that way anymore. I stopped living everywhere else, and I started living in the now.
Losing Parker didn't just break my heart. It woke me up. It made me a better father, a better human being, a better husband. Not because the pain was a gift, but because presence was.
Tonight, I am not going to ask you to change your lives or to fix everything. No, no, no. I'm going to ask you all something much harder.
Are you here?
Not thinking about work, not having a conversation with a friend while your mind is drifting off somewhere else. But are you here?
It's time. It's time to pull the plug. Pull the plug on distractions. Pull the plug on the missing moments with the most important people in your lives.
Because right here, right now is your life. And that, folks, that is all any of us really has.
Thank you. Thank you.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, support is available 24/7. In Canada and the United States, call or text 988.
Pierre Mousseau
President of High Energy Transport Inc., Author & Keynote Speaker - Kleinburg, Vaughan, Ontario
Pierre Mousseau is the President of High Energy Transport Inc., a national logistics company based in Vaughan, Ontario. He is the author of *From the Ashes*, published through Parker Legacy in honour of his son. Pierre delivers keynote talks and leadership workshops on resilience and leading through adversity, drawing from his own experience of losing his 20-year-old son Parker in December 2020. His story has been featured by CTV News Toronto and shared at Speaker Slam®, where he was named the 2026 Breakthrough champion. He continues to lead his company while speaking publicly about presence, grief, and the choices that shape a life.
What's Next for Pierre
Pierre Mousseau advances to the 2026 Grand Slam: Inspirational Speaking Finals on November 21st at CBC Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. He will compete alongside the winners of each Season 10 qualifying competition for the title of Inspirational Speaker of the Year and a prize package valued at $50,000.
The Next Competition
Speaker Slam®'s next competition, The Road Less Traveled, takes place May 26th at Lula Lounge in Toronto.
Applications for upcoming Season 10 competitions are open. Apply to compete →