Tumbler Ridge’s Maya Gebala is starting to breathe on her own, eight days after being flown to Vancouver following the devastating mass shooting in the northeast B.C. community.
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On Wednesday, an update from Maya’s dad David Gebala was posted on Maya’s GoFundMe page that pressure on the 12-year-old’s ventilator had been turned down because she was taking her own breaths.
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“Every single day, you show us just how strong, determined, and incredible you truly are. You continue to defy every expectation the doctors and surgeons once prepared us for. We were told we only had hours and yet here you are, still fighting, still with us,” his message read.
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“You went from not being able to move at all, to moving more and more each day. And now, the nurses have adjusted your ventilator to pressure support because you’re taking your own breaths. What an amazing milestone.”
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Meanwhile, Maya’s mother Cia Edmonds posted to Facebook the same day about how, while at Maya’s bedside, someone had broken into her truck and stolen her daughter’s paddle board.
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“Life has been a bit heavy and I am feeling it lately,” she wrote, calling the experience a “rollercoaster of emotions” that has hit her “like a tsunami.”
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Edmonds said her daughter had been moved into a new unit at the hospital, “one for recovery, instead of goodbyes.”
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“This, to me, is acknowledgment that she is fighting and refuses to quit,” she said adding there is still no movement on Maya’s right side. She said doctors have warned it is “similar to a stroke” and that Maya’s movement will be limited.
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Maya was at Tumbler Ridge Secondary on Feb. 10 when an 18-year-old walked in and started shooting. Maya tried unsuccessfully to lock the door to the library, through which the killer entered and murdered five people. Another person was shot and killed in a stairwell. The killer had earlier murdered their mother and half-brother, with the total death toll at eight.
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Maya was hit three times. The first shot grazed her cheek, while the second two entered her brain and neck.
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She was not expected to survive her first night in hospital but has continued to show improvement, though her injuries are permanent, including not being able to move her right side.
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“My sweet girl, I always knew you were strong but you are an absolute warrior. We are so unbelievably proud of you, and we love you more than words could ever express,” Gebala wrote.
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“And to everyone who continues to pray, support, and lift our baby girl up thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your love means everything to us.”