Local veteran using beauty to raise awareness around PTSD

A local military veteran is donning a new uniform that includes a tiara and a sash, in the hopes of earning a new title as a world-wide pageant winner with mental health on her mind.

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Giselle Drew Walsh followed in her father's footsteps when she enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces in 2008. More recently, she was crowned Mrs. Canada Universe and is excited to take her message to the next big stage.

"It's all about raising awareness for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for veterans and their families," Walsh said.

"How we can improve on initiatives that are already available and also seek out maybe new ones that can improve on what we have."

On the surface, Walsh appears a natural in the beauty pageant world, but the Spruce Grove mom said she was wracked with nerves during her first competition last November.

"If you ever saw the first time I ever walked on stage at my first pageant – it was brutal," she said. "Stiff arms, pretty much marching."

"And I saw that and I thought, 'Wow, this is a crowd of people that maybe they don't understand or know what's going on with Canadians in the military."

In July, Walsh was crowned Mrs. Canada Universe 2024. She will take her title to South Korea next week to compete to be crowned Mrs. Universe.

From her garments to her jewelry, Walsh's accessories pay homage to Canada's military and the members who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Mrs. Canada Universe Giselle Drew Walsh said much of her pageant jewelry pays homage to the Canadian Armed Forces. (Evan Klippenstein/CTV News Edmonton)All of it building on her mental health message about PTSD.

"(In) Afghanistan alone, we lost 158 sons and daughters, mothers, fathers," she said. "Since then, we've more than lost double that to suicide."

Walsh will wear a hand-sewn gown featuring red poppies at the upcoming pageant. Whether she takes the crown or not, she'll consider sharing her story – and the stories behind it – to be a victory.

"I don't need to win, because I already have won," she said. "I've won in the sense of, just in these last few months, the attention that I've been able to bring to some of these issues."

"Now that said, I obviously want to win."

The 47th annual Mrs. Universe pageant takes place from Oct. 2 to 10 in Incheon, South Korea.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk