Heroic 12-Year-Old Tried to Save Classmates from Trans Mass Shooter: She's in Critical Condition
As chaos raged and bullets flew, Maya Gebala tried to be a hero.
Now, she exists in the shadows between life and death where prayers rule more than medicine after taking three bullets during Jesse Van Rootselaar’s rampage Wednesday that left nine people dead and about 25 injured in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.
The 12-year-old, now in a medically induced coma at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, tried to lock the library door to protect others.
“They heard the screams and chaos, and Maya and her classmates tried to close the library door and lock it,” Krysta Hunt, a cousin of Maya’s mother, said, according to the Vancouver Sun.
The children did not know the lock was broken and would not close.
“Maya’s classmate ran for cover, and Maya spent an extra few seconds trying to lock the door. She was not successful,” Hunt said.
The transgender assailant entered, firing as Maya tried to find cover. She did not make it. One bullet hit her face; one struck her head; one hit her neck.
Maya Gebala, hero of Tumbler Ridge shooting, was shot in the head & neck protecting classmates. She’s 12.
Family said she might not survive the night but she defied odds & is still fighting for her life in critical at BC Children’s Hospital. #PrayForMaya pic.twitter.com/16S6O3RNAx
— Bruce (@bruce_barrett) February 12, 2026
Hunt said Maya is in “extreme critical condition” with two bullets still in her — one above her left eye and another in her neck, according to The Telegraph.
Doctors operated on her “to try and repair the brain bleed and they’re waiting to see how she responds to that,” she said.
Cia Edmonds, Maya’s mother, said the girl “needs a miracle” after doctors said the damage was “too much to endure.”
Then came hope on Thursday in a social media message that read, “Day of recovery. [She’s] moved!! [It’s] stimulus, a kick, a hand move, but [it’s] something!!!,” adding: “Pray for our community. Pray for support. Pray for healing… We love you, and we are thinking about all of you from the ICU.”
#TumblerRidge
« Prayers needed »
Maya Gebala tried to lock the library door; but she was shot in the neck and in the head. She survived the night.
She is a beautiful, brave, strong, very active little girl! She plays hockey.
Please prayers for her
-recovery 🙏
-Family
-staff pic.twitter.com/nJhTdDKHIR— Mariffe (@MarieBoule3) February 12, 2026
Maya, a hockey player, is a “feisty little girl who is brave and strong.”
“You don’t think something like this is going to affect your family,” Hunt said. “It’s insane.”
Edmonds, Maya’s mother, said, “I 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.”
“Our baby needs a miracle,” she said.
Heroísmo en tiempos oscuros: Maya Gelaba brilla ante la tragedia. ¡Es hora de priorizar la seguridad escolar! #ValentíaEstudiantil #SeguridadEscolar https://t.co/tzXnekP7gv pic.twitter.com/aLOKVYLNSv
— Spanglish™ (@wearspanglish) February 12, 2026
“She’s way too stubborn to let this…” David Gebala, her father, said, unable to complete the sentence, according to CBC.
“She’ll pull through this; I believe that she will,” he said.
Edmonds said the doctors are glum, but she will not give up hope.
“They had told us there’s nothing that we can do… so lay with her,” she said. “It’s almost been 48 hours and she’s still fighting. She’s so strong.”
“I just can’t wait till she opens her eyes, or smiles, or says, ‘Mama.’ I just want her to say ‘Mama,’” Edmonds said. “If she said ‘Mama’ one time, just one time…”
In a Facebook post, Edmonds wrote about her daughter this way: “My climber. My builder. My hockey star. Fight hard baby. They say you can’t. They don’t know you like we do,” according to The New York Times.
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