12-year-old 'fighting for her life' was shot while protecting classmates at Tumbler Ridge high school, family says
A 12-year-old girl who was gravely injured during the shooting at B.C.’s Tumbler Ridge Secondary School was trying to protect her classmates, a relative says.
Maya Gebala was one of at least two dozen children and teachers wounded when Jesse Van Rootselaar opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, killing eight people in total, including two at a nearby residence, before dying of a self-inflected wound, police say.
Krysta Hunt, a cousin of Maya’s mother, told Global News that Maya “tried to lock the door of the library from the shooter to save the other kids. And she tried to lock it and then ran under a table.”
That was when the girl was shot in the head and neck. Hunt commended her friends who, after she was shot, saw her move her finger and carried her out of the school to get help.
Hunt started a GoFundMe campaign to help Maya and her mother, Cia Edmonds, “during this devastating time.”
“Recovery timeline is unknown,” she wrote on the fundraising page. “All we know is that Maya made it through transport from Tumbler Ridge to (B.C.’s) Children’s Hospital and (is) currently in critical care.”
She later provided an update on the girl’s condition, writing: “Maya was able to undergo surgery yesterday to help stop bleeding. She is such a fighter. And we are happy to share that Maya made it through the night.”
But she added: “This is just the first step towards recovery. We are still in a very risky state, and care and long term recovery is unknown.”
Hunt also noted that other family members were on their way from Kamloops, B.C., and thanked everyone who had shared or donated to the campaign. “You really are holding us up right now.”
She also included a note from Edmonds.
”I’m writing this post sitting in Vancouver children’s hospital while my daughter fights for her life,” Edmonds wrote.
“Today started as any other. Now, however, my 12 year old daughter is fighting for her life while they try to repair the damage from a gun shot wound to the head. And one to the neck.”
Edmonds added: “She was a lucky one, I suppose. Condolences to the other families during this tragedy.” She concluded: “I never thought I would be asking for prayers. But please please, pray for my baby.”
Hunt told Global: “She’s a feisty little girl who is brave and strong.”
Edmonds posted to Facebook on Wednesday that doctors at B.C.’s Children’s Hospital in Vancouver had given her a bleak prognosis.
“We were warned that the damage to her brain was too much for her to endure, and she wouldn’t make the night,” she wrote, adding: “I can feel her in my heart. I can feel her saying it’s going to be ok … She’s here. For how long we don’t know.”
Meanwhile, a fundraiser for another of the injured students, Paige Hoekstra, had almost reached its goal of $35,000 after less than 24 hours.
“Hi, my name is Nicholas Hoekstra,” the GoFundMe page says by way of introduction. “I’m Paige’s older brother.”
It continues: “Yesterday everything changed for our family. Paige was airlifted to Vancouver after being shot, and she is in surgery right now. We’re still trying to wrap our heads around it. It all happened so fast. Watching someone you love go through something like this is something you can’t really prepare for. We’re scared, we’re hoping, and we’re just taking it one moment at a time.”
He writes that the fundraiser was created to help with the unexpected costs of travel, being away from work, and medical care. “Right now we just want to focus on her and being there for her, without worrying about how we’re going to manage everything else.”
On Thursday, Leann Fletcher wrote on Facebook that her younger sister, Paige, is recovering.
“My mother and I have been by her side at the hospital since the beginning. As a family we wanted to provide an update for everybody on her condition. Paige had suffered one gunshot wound to the chest and has since undergone surgery to repair/assess damage, but she is officially out of danger and in recovery. Her whole family is here to support her through her recovery to get back to the Paige we all know and love,” she wrote.
She thanked friends, family and the community for their support, before adding a “brief” message from Paige: “I want to tell everyone that I am okay and I am recovering.”
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