Maya Gebala’s Family Accepts UFC President’s Offer to Fund Her Rehab in California

The mother of school shooting victim Maya Gebala says she has accepted Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White’s offer to pay for her daughter’s treatment in California.

Cia Edmonds said last month that White had offered to pay for 12-year-old Maya to receive treatment at a “top-tier” hospital in Los Angeles but the family had yet to accept because the Tumbler Ridge Secondary student wasn’t stable enough to travel.

Edmonds confirmed in an April 9 Facebook post that the family would be heading south after all.

“After many nights of research, questioning, and fear of the unknown, we decided to say yes to an opportunity for an aggressive approach to her rehabilitation through privatized health care,” she wrote. “We are excited. As well as nervous, away from family and resources, an opportunity we couldn’t refuse.”

Edmonds did not say when the family would make the trip to L.A. but noted that a “new chapter starts soon and we welcome it.”

Maya is one of the victims from the Feb. 10 Tumbler Ridge mass shooting that claimed the lives of five students and one teacher’s aide and injured 27 others at the local high school. She was shot three times at close range, with one bullet entering her head above her left eye, a second striking her neck, and the third grazing her cheek and earlobe. 

The Grade 7 student suffered serious brain injuries as a result and has undergone multiple surgeries to repair the damage at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. She was in serious condition in hospital for several weeks but recently left the intensive care unit (ICU).

Edmonds first shared news of White’s offer in a March 25 post. She said White offered to pay for her family’s accommodations in Los Angeles while Maya is treated at a children’s hospital. White has been president of the UFC, a mixed martial arts promotion company, since 2001, and has served as its CEO since 2023.

The specific hospital where Maya will be treated has not been named, but Edmonds said it had “an extensive brain trauma clinic and more resources.” 

With a change in venue on the horizon, Edmonds said her hope is “when we land in LA we will be able to build routine and relationships, that will hopefully feel normal(ish).”

Maya was the most severely injured of all of the school shooting survivors. Jesse Van Rootselaar opened fire at the northeastern B.C. school on Feb. 10 after the 18-year-old killed his mother and 11-year-old half-brother in their home. Van Rootselaar was also found dead at the scene with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, bringing the final death toll to nine.

Maya and one other student were flown out of the small northeastern B.C. town for treatment in Vancouver. Doctors originally told the family the damage to Maya’s brain was “too much for her to endure, and she wouldn’t make the night,” but Edmonds said on April 9 that her daughter is “aware” and “making strong strides that far beyond exceed all and any expectations.”

“With the hard hitting emotional turmoil that exists in uncertainty, removed, we can breathe a bit,” she said. “With the looming fear of darkness subsiding, we can finally consider life and what it may look like.”