Former city man receives AMA medal

　
A former Lethbridge resident has been recognized for his years of work to ensure people living with mental illness receive quality health care. Austin Mardon, 48, received the Medal of Honour during the Alberta Medical Association’s annual general meeting in Edmonton, Friday.

The Medal of Honour is presented to non-physicians who have made a significant contribution to ensuring quality health care for the people of Alberta. "I feel very honoured," Mardon said from his Edmonton home only hours before he was to receive the medal.

The AMA said Mardon is an impassioned advocate for people living with mental illness, and has devoted the past two decades to educating Canadians about the challenges, stigma and struggles facing the mentally ill. Mardon is a writer, scholar and advocate, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was only 30 years old. Since then, he has been an outspoken advocate and public educator on mental illness, and has delivered countless speeches, conducted interviews with media and met with politicians, academics and community leaders regionally, nationally and internationally. His work has earned him many prestigious awards including the Flag of Hope Award from the Schizophrenia Society of Canada in 2001, the C.M. Hincks Award from the Canadian Mental Health Association in 2007, and the Order of Canada in 2007. He is a board member of the Alberta College of Social Workers, a member of Covenant Health’s Mental Health Committee and the Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities.