Mr. Joshua M. Thompson served in the Canadian Armed Forces from February 1999 until February 2016, retiring to pursue a career in law enforcement. A Veteran of the mission in Afghanistan, Mr. Thompson has for years been a tireless supporter of Veterans struggling with the burden of mental health problems.
Since December 2013, Mr. Thompson has been an instrumental volunteer with the peer support initiative, “Send Up the Count” an online social media campaign by current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces to reach out to comrades who may be struggling and at risk of suicide or other self-harm. He has worked tirelessly to help with the administration of a group of almost 12,000 members mostly composed of members of the military or Veterans community. He has done so without compensation or seeking recognition for his efforts. Through his tactful engagement with Veterans, many of them struggling emotionally, he has been essential in building and maintaining a community where military and Veteran peers can safely support each other through crisis.
In the time he has been involved with this campaign, Mr. Thompson has on several occasions been involved in identifying Veterans who were currently in crisis, reaching out to them and helping them while they accessed appropriate professional or peer support resources. He has been involved in several situations where members of the initiative, spread across the country, have had to identify and locate Veterans who were in the middle of active suicide attempts in order to get them police and emergency medical services. As a direct result of Mr. Thompson’s services, lives have been saved. He has continued to support struggling Veterans after their crises, providing support as a peer and helping them to find appropriate community and Veteran resources.