Maya’s mom just set the record straight with a heavy heart: no, her brave girl is not talking. That story floating around is pure fiction. With a breathing tube locked in her throat, Maya’s completely unable to speak, still clinging to life in critical condition. There’s a steady leak of cerebral fluid and blood from her ear and surgical wound, and right now her parents are waiting on the neurosurgeon to weigh in on this relentless setback. It’s two steps forward, one brutal fall back, and the sting of made-up rumors about their little warrior or even their mom, piles on the pain.


For anyone just joining Maya’s story: 12-year-old Maya Gebala was shot in the head and neck during the mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. A 17-year-old former student entered the school on February 10 after killing family members at home and opened fire, murdering six people inside the school, including three 12-year-old girls, two boys, and an education assistant. Maya was in the library working on a project, tried to help protect others, and was gravely wounded when bullets went through her earlobe, into her head, out the back of her skull, and lodged in her throat. She was airlifted to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, placed in a coma, and has since had glimmers of hope like opening her eyes and moving her hands, but she remains in a fragile, critical fight with complications like brain fluid buildup, emergency surgery for a drain, and these ongoing leaks.

Please honor what her mother is sharing, stick to the truth, skip the rumors. Keep Maya, her family, and everyone touched by this tragedy in your prayers. Share responsibly. Comment love and strength for the Gebalas.