When Shawna Gagné enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2001, it was a pragmatic decision: she was a single mom with two children, and she wanted to give them a good life. Coming from a military family, the Forces were familiar. 

“But when I joined, I became so proud to be in uniform and serving my country,” she recalls. The family tradition also continued: Shawna’s son joined the Air Force when he was 18 and her husband also served in the Royal Canadian Navy.  

But service-related trauma and physical injuries Shawna sustained in 2020 took their toll. 

“Over the last few years, it’s been very tough,” Shawna says. “I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression and anxiety. COVID didn’t help. We were all isolated, but then when I got diagnosed with PTSD from trauma, it just seemed my life closed down. I was basically a basement dweller for the last five years.”  

In April 2025, after a 23-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces, serving in both the Air Force and the Navy, Shawna was medically released.  


“I used to try to hide my trauma, my PTSD, because it was kind of shameful in my mind. In the military, we’re always told there’s no crying. Suck it up and carry on.”

“My career ended – not by my choice – and from a job I absolutely loved,” she says. 

But by chance, Shawna found True Patriot Love’s website last fall and applied to take part in the all-women’s Nahanni Expedition in August 2025. The expedition kicked off with a training camp this May for the Veterans, servicewomen and civilian business leaders who will paddle the Nahanni in the Northwest Territories.  

True Patriot Love spoke with Shawna from her home in Nova Scotia in early June about her journey so far. 

What was the draw to take part in the Nahanni expedition?  

I was in the basement sitting on my couch one night and I thought, “I’m going see what Veterans’ organizations are doing” and I looked up True Patriot Love. I was just scrolling and I happened to come across the Expedition page. It was the last day to apply for the Nahanni Expedition and it was already 7:00 at night. I saw it and I was like, can I even do this? I have trouble with crowds and have certain triggers, so I wasn’t sure if I was ready, but I decided I was going to try. When I got accepted, I was over the moon excited. The universe was saying “Yes, Shawna: it’s time.” 

What kinds of training are you doing to prepare for the expedition?  

On January 2nd, I started going to the gym and lifting weights six days a week. I’ve been doing strength training and flexibility because I was pretty weak. I try to go every morning. I do an hour of weights and then a half-hour walking on the treadmill because I can’t run anymore.  

There is a lot of pain and in my left foot I have permanent nerve damage from an operation I did in the military, but I’m just going to keep working on it. I can see that my healing journey is moving on and that it’s possible that I’m not always going to be stuck in my basement.  

Are you an outdoor trekker kind of person or are you stepping outside your comfort zone with Nahanni?   

I was an adrenaline junkie. I’ve done the Quebec Carnival ice canoe race in the wintertime. I’ve skydived. I did a marathon in my hotel room for something to do. I was always that kind of person, but after 2020 that stopped.  

Just getting to the training camp was outside of my comfort zone. I have a service dog and my husband and I don’t go anywhere without them. Training camp was literally the first time I went by myself.  

Just getting on the plane, going to Toronto by myself, finding my way to the hotel – I got on the wrong shuttle and went to the wrong hotel at first – it was out of my comfort zone big time. Everything was huge; everything was first steps. 

What was your experience of training camp? 

I am so grateful for that training camp weekend. I have gotten so much healing out of that weekend than I have in the last five years of therapy.  

That weekend was the first time in five years that I’ve seen a glimpse of that adrenaline junkie; she’s still in there. My PTSD hasn’t totally taken everything from me. But I owe it to True Patriot Love for giving me this opportunity, because without it I don’t know where or when I have been able to see this in myself again. 

By giving us this weekend with Warrior Adventures Canada, True Patriot Love created such a safe spot for all of us women. These lovely women that I met have now become my sisters. I know it sounds kind of funny, but it was kind of shocking to me because we’re totally two different worlds. All my friends are military or retired military. I didn’t know how I’d be able to relate to civilians. But when we were all in the woods and on the water, we were all the same. 

Were there any stand-out moments from training camp that you’d like to share?  

At training camp, we had to go swimming in the rapids – if our canoe capsizes, we need to know how to manage. Well, one of my fears is water. I was standing at the rocks and my legs were trembling, literally, visibly trembling. And I was crying because I was so scared. As soon as they saw, their arms were around me. “Shawna, you got this. You can do this.”  

The guides from Warrior Adventures said, “We will be right with you, Shawna.” It was just the most supportive space I’d ever been in in my life, and not just from one person but from every single one of them. 

When I went in the rapids and I swam, all the women were standing on the shoreline and cheering and yelling and clapping. That was my big moment of “Oh my God, this is amazing.” Women empowering women is so beautiful. So beautiful. 

And that’s what that whole training camp weekend was about: everybody empowering everybody. There was not one moment of letting somebody do something by themselves. 

This expedition has truly saved my life. It’s already changed me so much that this morning, for the first time in years, I went out on my kayak with my cousin on the river. It was really nice. I haven’t been able to do that in five years. 

I’ve already gotten so much out of this adventure and I haven’t even gone on the trip. It’s brought that spark back to my heart. The girl that was always so active and adventurous and outgoing is still in there – and she’s coming out! 


Would you like to support the expedition program? Click here to make a one-time donation.

Click to read more about the impact of expeditions “beyond the trek”.