In the sterile glow of a Vancouver intensive care unit, Cia Edmonds sits vigil by the bedside of her 12-year-old daughter Maya Gebala, stroking her small hand as machines beep relentlessly around them. The brave Grade 7 girl lies motionless in a medically induced coma, swathed in bandages from devastating gunsH๏τ wounds to her head and neck – injuries inflicted in a split-second act of terror that has left a tiny Canadian mountain town shattered.
Maya was airlifted hundreds of miles from the remote community of Tumbler Ridge after Tuesday’s nightmare at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar – a former student with a documented history of mental health crises – allegedly gunned down her own mother and half-brother at home before storming the school and opening fire.
Eight people died in the rampage: five children aged 12 and 13, a dedicated female education ᴀssistant, and the shooter’s family members. Maya is among more than two dozen wounded, fighting what doctors initially described as near-impossible odds.
“We were warned that the damage to her brain was too much for her to endure, and that she wouldn’t make it through the night,” Cia Edmonds revealed in a gut-wrenching Facebook post from her daughter’s side on Wednesday afternoon.
“I never thought I’d be asking for prayers,” she continued, her words raw with anguish. “But please, please pray for my baby. She needs a miracle.”
The pH๏τo of Maya that has circulated widely shows a bright-eyed girl with golden curls in braids, smiling confidently in her school hoodie – a heartbreaking contrast to the fragile child now hooked to ventilators and monitors at BC Children’s Hospital.
Family members say Maya showed extraordinary courage in her final moments before the bullets struck. According to cousin Krysta Hunt, Maya and her classmates in the school library heard the screams and chaos erupting through the hallways. In a desperate bid to protect her friends, Maya rushed to help close and lock the heavy door against the armed intruder.
Tragically, the gunman fired through the attempt, striking the heroic 12-year-old multiple times. “They heard the screams and chaos, and Maya and her classmates tried to close the library door and lock it,” Hunt told reporters, her voice breaking.
Now, as the nation reels from one of Canada’s rare but devastating school shootings, Maya’s story has become a beacon of fragile hope amid overwhelming grief.
Despite the dire initial prognosis – severe brain swelling, inability to breathe independently, and critical neurological damage – tiny signs of progress have emerged. On Thursday, Cia shared an emotional update: Maya had moved her left hand and leg in response to stimuli, even coughed for the first time since emergency surgery.
“She’s moved … it’s stimulus, a kick, a hand move, but it’s something!” Edmonds wrote. “It’s almost been 48 hours and she’s still fighting. She’s so strong.”
Maya’s father, David Gebala, echoed the cautious optimism in interviews, saying the family feels “incredible improvements” despite the long road ahead. “I can feel it in my heart that she’s coming back,” he said tearfully. “She’s getting better. I feel like she’s getting better.”
The couple, who rushed to Vancouver to be by their daughter’s side, have been overwhelmed by an outpouring of support from across Canada and beyond. Messages of love, virtual prayer chains, and donations have flooded in, with strangers offering meals, travel help, and simply words of comfort for a family thrust into every parent’s worst nightmare.
In Tumbler Ridge – a тιԍнт-knit former coal-mining town of just 2,400 souls nestled in the breathtaking but isolated Rockies – the pain is palpable. Vigils lit the snowy nights with hundreds of flickering candles as residents huddled together, clutching teddy bears, flowers, and handmade signs reading “Pray for Maya” and “We Stand With You.”
PH๏τos from the gatherings show families embracing in the cold, children staring wide-eyed at memorials piled high with stuffed animals and heartfelt notes – stark reminders of innocence stolen in seconds.
Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the nation in an emotional speech, his voice cracking as he spoke of parents who sent their children to school never imagining the horror that awaited. Flags fly at half-mast nationwide, schools remain closed for counseling, and the entire country grapples with questions that may never have satisfying answers.
How did warning signs – repeated mental health detentions, police visits for self-harm concerns, seized (and later returned) firearms – go unheeded? Why did strict Canadian gun laws fail to prevent this tragedy?
For now, those debates feel distant to Cia Edmonds. Her world has shrunk to the rhythm of hospital machines and the faint hope in every twitch of Maya’s fingers.
“Please pray for healing, strength, and comfort over her and our family during this unimaginable time,” she pleaded. “We hope all the injured children and adults survive.”
Medical experts caution that gunsH๏τ wounds to the head and neck rank among the most life-threatening traumas, often leaving survivors with profound challenges even if they pull through. Maya faces months – perhaps years – of rehabilitation if she awakens fully.
Yet amid the uncertainty, her mother’s fierce love shines through. In one poignant moment shared with reporters, Cia described lying beside her daughter in the narrow hospital bed, whispering encouragement hour after hour.
“She’s still fighting,” Edmonds said simply. “My baby is still fighting.”
As Canada mourns its latest unthinkable loss, thousands have heeded the call. Online fundraisers surge, prayer groups multiply, and strangers light candles from coast to coast.
For Maya Gebala – the girl who tried to lock out evil to save her friends – the nation holds its breath, willing a miracle into existence.
One heartbeat, one breath, one small movement at a time.
