Surgery to repair skull a success for Tumbler Ridge shooting victim Maya Gebala

VANCOUVER — The father of 12-year-old Maya Gebala, who was gravely injured in the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., mass shootings, says surgery to repair her damaged skull has been a success.

David Gebala says in a Facebook post that Maya underwent a cranioplasty to repair her skull, and there are “no visible signs” of an infection that previously hampered her recovery.

Maya was shot three times in the Feb. 10 attack in the remote northeastern B.C. community, in which eight victims died.

Investigators say 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother at their home before going to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where she shot dead five children, an educational assistant, then herself.

Maya’s mother, Cia Edmonds, previously said the surgery would be her fifth, and hopefully her last.

David Gebala says his daughter is “not entirely out of the woods yet” and she is still experiencing a buildup of fluid in parts of her brain, but he says the family is optimistic the surgery will help.

“Our hope is that over the next 10 days and beyond, her hydrocephalus (fluid buildup) will subside naturally so she can avoid another surgery for a shunt,” the father says in his Facebook post, noting Maya has already recovered enough to look around and squeeze people’s fingers.

“Our sweet, innocent little girl has been through so much. It breaks my heart to watch her endure all of this,” he writes. “But at the same time, I’ve never been more proud of what a fighter she is.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2026.

The Canadian Press