Moments before he overthrew Emperor, Vader was badly beaten by his own son, Luke Skywalker. He lost his hand, and was described as being weaker than ever before. Yet, he somehow managed to rise, and after brief pause grabbed and carried Palpatine, for a few seconds enduring full strength of Force Lightning by arguably most powerful being in the Galaxy. Some people even compare him carrying Palpatine to Jesus carrying his cross. Both sacrificed themselves with great pain, to save the world.
Anyway, Anakin Skywalker was Choosen One of the Force, shatterpoint of Palpatine, and absolute shatterpoint of Sith. Yet question is, in his final act, did he use the Force, or better did Force help him to endure what others could not ? Because, even Yoda deflected Palpatine's lightning to survive and did not sacrifice himself by soaking it. If Anakin did not use the Force, then whole scene gets even greater symbolic meaning - heroic act of single individual against whole darkness of the universe.