Tumbler Ridge survivors update: Maya Gebala making progress, Paige Hoekstra heading home

Tumbler Ridge shooting survivor Maya Gebala is moving quite a bit on her left side, but not on her right, according to her mom.

Maya has been in intensive care at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver since last Tuesday, where she was flown after a mass shooting that left eight people dead, including six children and two adults. The killer, 18, took their own life when confronted by police at Tumbler Ridge Secondary.

On Monday, Maya’s mother, Cia Edmonds, provided an update through Maya’s GoFundMe page, which has so far raised $420,000.

“She’s moving quite a bit more on her left side. No movement on her right,” Edmonds wrote.

“It seems as though she is responding. When Maya is seemingly ‘awake,’ her eyes are starting to flutter. I’ve stood at the floor of her bed to massage her feet and I feel as though her eyes follow my voice.”

Maya, 12, is credited with trying to lock a library door within Tumbler Ridge Secondary as the killer approached. The door lock, however, was broken. Five people died inside the library and another person in a stairwell.

Maya hid under a desk but was shot three times. One bullet grazed her cheek and ear, while the second and third bullets hit her in the head and neck.

Edmonds said Maya’s eyes are not reacting to light, suggesting she may not be able to see.

There’s significant damage to the left side of her brain, “where the bullet entered and exited, it tore right through,” Edmonds wrote.

“Because of the damage and swelling surrounding it, it is hard to say how much response and deliberate function she will be able to regain. However, we are hopeful. She has been cleared for a feeding tube and is (thankfully) not considered to pass in the immediate future.

“The progress is so uplifting, I dread the day it plateaus. There are a lot of positives, of course, but this recovery won’t be linear. I still sing to her, talk to her, tell her how proud we are and that the entire world is cheering her on.”

Meanwhile, on Monday the family of 19-year-old Paige Hoekstra wrote on her GoFundMe page that she has been cleared to leave hospital and return to Tumbler Ridge.

“The doctors have run a series of post-surgery tests/scans over the last couple days, and they are now confident that it is safe for us to bring Paige home,” the family wrote. “We are currently looking at the logistics of bringing Paige back to T.R. to reunite with the rest of the family and continue her recovery from home.”

Hoekstra, who was shot in the chest, was flown to Vancouver at the same time as Maya.

According to The Canadian Press, the RCMP removed yellow tape surrounding the school and control was returned to the Peace River South school district on Monday. However, officials including Premier David Ey had said no child will be forced to return to that school.

Meanwhile, the first set of temporary school facilities began arriving in Tumbler Ridge on Monday, with the portables to be set up on the grounds of Tumbler Ridge Elementary school. The bathroom trailers arrived on Monday, with portable classrooms set to arrive on Tuesday and Wednesday. There will be 14 portable classrooms in total, which will take several days to set up with running water, heating and to furnish them for returning students and staff.

A date for classes to resume in Tumbler Ridge has not yet been confirmed.

Work to prepare a more permanent learning space with more spacious “double-wide” school trailers has begun at the elementary school site. These structures are set to arrive in the coming weeks and will serve Tumbler Ridge Secondary until community input, expert advice and future plans can be confirmed.

Read more of our Tumbler Ridge coverage HERE.

dcarrigg@postmedia.com

With a file from Mike Raptis