12-Year-Old Girl ‘Fighting for Life’ After Tumbler Ridge School Shooting

What began as “just a normal day” day for Cia Edmonds ended in a hospital room, sitting beside her 12-year-old daughter’s bed, as the child fights for her life after sustaining two gunshot wounds during the second-deadliest school shooting in Canadian history.

Maya Gebala was one of the 27 people injured Feb. 10 during the mass shooting at a B.C. high school that left five students and one teacher dead, as well as the suspected shooter. Police said two of the injured at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School—Maya and a 19-year-old woman—were flown out of the small town for medical treatment.

Edmonds said in a Feb. 11 Facebook post that doctors had told the family the damage to Maya’s brain was “too much for her to endure, and she wouldn’t make the night,” but the mom noted in a subsequent post that her daughter is a fighter.

She said Maya was shot once in the head and again in the neck.

In a Feb. 10 post she described Maya as “a lucky one” noting that her daughter has a chance at life while other families endure the loss of their children.

“I never thought I would be asking for prayers…but please please, pray for my baby,” she wrote. A photograph of Maya connected to life support machines accompanied a post the following day. The picture shows the 12-year-old lying in a hospital bed with a swollen black eye, her head swathed in bandages.

“Our baby needs a miracle,” her mom wrote in the post accompanying the picture. “Please. Wish her luck.”

Edmonds also thanked the public for the outpouring of support directed toward her family. She said she “cannot reply to the mountain of messages we’ve received, but know we are so grateful for all the love and support … She’s here … for how long we don’t know.”

Fundraising for Family

A GoFundMe page has been set up by Edmonds’s cousin, Krysta Hunt, with a goal of raising $250,000 to help the family with expenses.

Hunt said Maya’s “recovery time is unknown,” noting that the girl is in critical care at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.

She said the funds raised would “provide support for Maya through her recovery. And allow for Cia to be by her side without financial concern.”

Edmonds has posted a number of images on Facebook of her daughter from prior to the shooting. Several pictures show her on the ice playing for the Tumbler Ridge Raptors under-13 hockey team.

Four-time Olympic gold medallist and hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser gave the GoFundMe campaign for Maya and her family a boost by promoting it on X.

“Here is a go fund me for 12 year old Maya and her family who is a little hockey player from Tumbler Ridge,” Wickenheiser wrote on Feb. 11. “Hockey-do your thing.”

More than 3,700 contributions were recorded by early Feb. 12, exceeding the established goal, with a total of $251,607 raised.

Maya’s plight moved B.C. Premier David Eby to tears during remarks after attending a community vigil in Tumbler Ridge on Feb. 11. He said vigil participants were asked to pray for Maya and her family.

“That moment, for me, is representative of the profound tragedy,” Eby told reporters as he fought to hold back tears during an evening press conference. “A beautiful child who went to school, was full of joy and love, who’s clinging to life in a hospital right now.”

Eby said the three levels of government—municipal, provincial, and federal—who were present at the Tumbler Ridge vigil and news conference would ensure “supports are here,” while acknowledging “they will never be adequate for what you are going through.”

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, B.C. Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger, and Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka also spoke to the media.

A tearful Krakowka urged members of the media to give hugs to those grieving in the community but asked they respect the privacy of the families who are dealing with injuries or are grappling with the loss of their loved ones.

Shooting

Police have identified 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar as the suspected killer of a teacher and five children at the secondary school, which serves students in grades 7 through 12 and has less than 200 students. Police said the young victims were three 12-year-old girls and two boys, aged 12 and 13.

One of the victims has been identified as 12-year-old Kylie Smith. A GoFundMe page has been set up by Kylie’s aunt to help her sister, Kylie’s mom, with travel expenses.

Police say Van Rootselaar, who was born a biological male and had transitioned to female in recent years, had a history of mental health issues. Van Rootselaar was found dead at the scene of the school shooting with what police believe to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Van Rootselaar is also suspected of killing his mother and 11-year-old step-brother at their Tumbler Ridge home before going to the school with a long gun and modified handgun, which were recovered at the scene, police said.

Tumbler Ridge is a small community of approximately 2,400 residents in the foothills of the Rockies in northeastern British Columbia.

Another GoFundMe page has been posted to help support the families of the victims. It was set up by the Tumbler Ridge Parent Advisory Committee with a fundraising goal of $350,000.

“These funds will provide essential assistance such as covering unexpected expenses, supporting daily needs, and helping with any ongoing recovery efforts,” the post said. “Our community has always stood strong in times of adversity, and this is an opportunity for us to extend a helping hand to those who need it most.”

A total of $234,803 had been raised as of early on Feb. 12.