Tumbler Ridge shooting survivor discharged after 262 days in hospital

Maya Gebala, a 13-year-old girl critically injured in the February school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, was released from the hospital on Thursday. Her father, David Gebala, confirmed the discharge in a social media post on Thursday. The family had been at British Columbia Children's Hospital in Vancouver since February 10.

Gebala wrote to his daughter that the road ahead remains long, but the hospital stay represents a milestone few predicted. He called her the bravest person he knows. The post included a video of Maya smiling while sitting in a wheelchair.

Maya was in the school library when the shooting began. She was shot three times, including in the head. According to a criminal complaint filed by her family, the shots shattered parts of her skull and caused catastrophic brain injuries. Doctors initially told the family she was unlikely to survive the night.

Since her admission, Maya underwent five surgeries. Gebala detailed specific recovery milestones in his post. On the 251st day of her hospitalization, she opened her eye and moved her leg before being rushed back for emergency surgery that same morning. On the 179th day, doctors placed a prosthetic skull. He described this as the fifth surgery and the one that finally stayed in place.

Gebala noted that on the 145th day, Maya intentionally smiled during a game of thumb war. On the 61st day, her father heard her voice again. He thanked the nurses, doctors, and therapists who accompanied the family through the process.

The shooting at the secondary school killed eight people, including six children. More than two dozen others were wounded. It is considered the deadliest school shooting in Canada in decades. The community in the small mining town in northern British Columbia has continued to process the event through legal and personal channels.

Maya's mother, Cia Edmonds, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI on Maya's behalf. The suit is one of dozens filed in US and Canadian courts. The plaintiffs allege that the tech company was negligent after it emerged that the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, used ChatGPT to plan the attack. The province of British Columbia is also suing OpenAI.

OpenAI has responded to the claims by stating it has a zero-tolerance policy for using its tools to assist in violence. A company spokesperson told CNN in April that the company deactivated the shooter's original account in June 2025 due to violent activities. However, Van Rootselaar created a second account to continue using the chatbot. CEO Sam Altman apologized to the Tumbler Ridge community for failing to notify authorities about the shooter's disturbing online conversations after staff flagged the account internally.

US authorities arrested a 30-year-old woman from Washington state earlier this month. She is alleged to have offered advice and sent money to Van Rootselaar before the shooting. CNN previously reported that Van Rootselaar posted about guns, hunting, and her mental health struggles online in the period leading up to the massacre.