‘Bravest person I know’: Father’s pride as school shooting victim leaves hospital after 262 days

Maya Gebala Leaves Hospital After More Than Eight Months of Recovery

Earthguardiansonline.com – Maya Gebala, the 13-year-old survivor of the February 10 shooting at a secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, has left hospital after 262 days of intensive medical care. Her release marks a major moment for her family after an injury doctors initially feared she would not survive overnight.

Her father, David Gebala, shared the news in a deeply personal message to Maya on social media, accompanied by a video showing her smiling from her wheelchair. He described the milestone as the result of months of determination, treatment and support from medical staff.

“There was never a day I stopped believing we would get here. The road ahead is still long, but this is a milestone no one thought we would reach.”

Calling his daughter “the bravest person I know,” Gebala reflected on the extraordinary progress she has made since being airlifted to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. Maya was shot three times during the attack, including once in the head. The injuries shattered portions of her skull and caused catastrophic brain injuries.

A Long Series of Medical Milestones

Her recovery has involved five surgeries, including an operation to implant a prosthetic skull. Gebala used his post to remember several moments that became signs of hope for the family during an exhausting and uncertain year.

“You refused to accept the words we heard 262 days ago when you came out of the OR. Look at you, my girl. You blew every expectation out of the water.”

He wrote that 251 days earlier, Maya opened one eye, moved it and shifted her leg before needing emergency surgery later that morning. Her prosthetic skull was placed 179 days ago, in what he described as her fifth surgery and the procedure that finally held.

Other breakthroughs followed. Maya intentionally smiled for the first time 145 days ago while playing thumb war with her father. Sixty-one days ago, he heard her voice again.

“Now it’s time to leave these hospital walls behind and keep moving forward, Maya Bear.”

Gebala thanked the nurses, doctors and therapists who had supported Maya and the family through every stage of her care. Leaving hospital does not signal the end of her recovery, but it moves her beyond a long period defined by emergency treatment, surgery and rehabilitation inside medical facilities.

The Tumbler Ridge Attack

Maya was in the school library when the violence unfolded in the small northern British Columbia mining community. The shooting left eight people dead, including six children, and wounded more than two dozen others. It was Canada’s deadliest school shooting in decades.

For survivors and families, the impact has continued far beyond the day of the attack. Maya’s release from hospital offers a visible reminder of the extended physical and emotional recovery facing those injured, as well as the communities and medical teams supporting them.

During her hospitalization, Gebala regularly shared updates about her progress. One recent outing included seeing the Foo Fighters and celebrating Maya’s 13th birthday, a moment that stood apart from the medical routines that had dominated much of the year.

Lawsuits Focus on Chatbot Safety Claims

Maya’s mother, Cia Edmonds, filed a criminal complaint on her daughter’s behalf against OpenAI. The case is among dozens of actions brought in US and Canadian courts by victims, survivors and witnesses of the Tumbler Ridge shooting.

The claims accuse the technology company of negligence after allegations emerged that the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, used ChatGPT while planning the attack. British Columbia has also filed a lawsuit against OpenAI.

OpenAI has rejected assertions that it treats safety lightly. In April, a company spokesperson said it had a “zero-tolerance policy for using our tools to assist in committing violence.” The company has said it disabled an account created by Van Rootselaar in June 2025 because of violent activity, but that a second account was later created to continue using the chatbot.

Chief executive Sam Altman previously apologized to Tumbler Ridge residents for the company’s failure to alert authorities about disturbing conversations with the chatbot after the account had been flagged internally. Earlier in October, US authorities arrested a 30-year-old Washington state resident accused of giving advice and sending money to Van Rootselaar before the shooting.

Van Rootselaar had also posted online about guns, hunting and apparent mental health struggles before the massacre. The legal cases now raise broader questions about how technology companies identify dangerous conduct, respond to warning signs and communicate with authorities when potential threats emerge.

For Maya’s family, however, the immediate focus is no longer measured only in operations or hospital days. It is the next stage of a recovery that once seemed impossible, now carried forward outside the hospital walls.