Our condolences go out to the families of the eight people killed, and to everyone in Tumbler Ridge still living with what happened that day.
When David Gebala told his daughter she was going home, Maya punched the air.
He posted the video Thursday, along with a message marking 262 days since the Tumbler Ridge shooting. On Feb. 10, Maya, then 12, was airlifted to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. Doctors told the family they didn’t think she would make it through the night.
“There was never a day I stopped believing we would get here,” her father wrote. He called it “a milestone no one thought we would reach.”
“Maya, you are the bravest person I know. Giving up was never an option for me, and it clearly never was for you either.”
262 days, counted one by one
Maya’s father has shared her recovery publicly since February. On Thursday, he laid it out as a countdown. In his words:
251 days ago: Maya opened her eye, moved it and shifted her leg. Then she was rushed into emergency surgery for hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain.
238 days ago: The breathing tube came out. She breathed on her own for the first time.
230 days ago: She felt the sun on her face.
213 days ago: Her father held her for the first time since the morning of Feb. 10.
191 days ago: The tubes came off her face.
145 days ago: She smiled on purpose, during a game of thumb war.
140 days ago: Her father wheeled her off hospital grounds for the first time.
61 days ago: She spoke for the first time.
40 days ago: She turned 13 at a Foo Fighters concert.
In between came surgeries, infections and setbacks. Her fifth surgery, to place a prosthetic skull, was the one that “finally stuck,” he wrote.
“Now it’s time to leave these hospital walls behind and keep moving forward, Maya Bear.”
He thanked the doctors, nurses and therapists, and everyone who has supported the family. He was also clear that this is a milestone, not the end. The road ahead, he wrote, is still long.
How to help
A family fundraiser, “Support For Maya In Her Road To Recovery,” is still active. Maya’s mother, Cia Edmonds, is listed as the beneficiary. It was set up the day after the shooting so she could stay at Maya’s side, and it had raised close to $600,000 toward a $650,000 goal as of Thursday.
Support Maya’s recovery through the family fundraiser
The day Tumbler Ridge changed
Eight people were killed on Feb. 10 in Tumbler Ridge, a town of about 2,000 in northeastern B.C., roughly 90 minutes from the Alberta border.
Six died at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. The RCMP identified them as:
Abel Mwansa, 12
Ezekiel Schofield, 13
Kylie Smith, 12
Zoey Benoit, 12
Ticaria Lampert, 12
Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 39, an educator
Two more were killed at a home on Fellers Avenue: Emmett Jacobs, 11, and Jennifer Jacobs, 39.
Twenty-seven people were treated for injuries. Maya was one of two students flown to Vancouver. The shooter, an 18-year-old former student, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A Grande Prairie crew was there that day
Help came from across the Alberta border.
A STARS air ambulance crew from Grande Prairie flew to Tumbler Ridge on Feb. 10 and worked alongside Northern Health staff treating the most badly hurt patients.
In April, B.C. Emergency Health Services recognized two members of that crew, flight nurse Janice Kirkham and flight paramedic Jeremy Mandoli, with Chief Ambulance Officer Commendations at a ceremony at the Grande Prairie base.
Maya’s mother is suing OpenAI
Maya’s recovery has played out alongside a legal fight.
In March, Cia Edmonds filed a civil lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. In April, families of other victims filed their own suit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman.
The suits follow reporting that OpenAI banned the shooter’s ChatGPT account in June 2025 over violent queries but didn’t alert police. OpenAI has said the activity didn’t meet its threshold for reporting to law enforcement. None of the claims has been proven in court.
After eight months, the next step
Maya’s father hasn’t said what her care looks like from here, only that she’s going home and that the work isn’t done.
For a town that lost six children and two adults in one afternoon, it’s one of the few pieces of good news since Feb. 10.
Comments
Conversation