Jermaine Downey – Mar. 16

I am a retired Canadian Forces Army Captain with 21 years of service. After retirement from the CF I also worked in Federal Prisons in Kingston and with youth in Toronto. Currently, I’m fully retired from both and enjoying life as best as possible. Married to Karen, we live in Milton with our youngest daughter, 14-year-old Zoiee.  We have 2 beautiful granddaughters, 5-year-old Isabella & 1-year-old Skylar. I come from North Preston, Nova Scotia. (fun fact: it’s Canada’s largest Indigenous Black Community). My passion is playing the Great Highland Bagpipes, which I’ve played since I was a child and throughout my career in the Canadian Forces. My Eating Disorder started when I was 18 and first joined the Canadian Forces as an Officer Cadet. I was told I was overweight and made to sign a contract to lose weight in a specific amount of time, or be discharged. This was found to be a discriminatory practice and has since been discontinued. I lost the weight but developed a serious Eating Disorder in the process. I became Bulimic. Over the years it morphed into an enormous part of my life as a coping mechanism for dealing with stress in the military’s structure.  I have been in and out of treatment since 2007. I still struggle with Body Image & PTSD and have health complications from abusing my body for so many years but I try to be positive and enjoy life as best as possible.