A Hero for the 21st Century

 I'm trying to look inside myself to see if I could do what Maya Gebala is seen doing here  in this CCTV image. This is captured from the video of the moment in Tumbler Ridge, BC, the day Maya faced certain death. At first she faced it through the window of the door she is holding shut, and a moment later, a matter of a few seconds on the clock, she is facing the smoking barrel of an assault rifle pointing at her face, and firing, hitting Maya twice. 

She put herself between the 200 lbs. of psychotic rage shooting to kill with a high-powered rifle, until the psychotic shot her and everybody else in the library then shot himself.

This has to be the most unforgettable moment of 2026, of the century, and a historical fact of Maya's character. I am not sure anyone can grasp what we are seeing in the photograph of Maya standing up to the raging killer twice her size armed to the teeth. 

I say this because it is something I have actually seen never in my 71 years. That's a long newsreel of death and destruction.  There isn't a single 12 year old girl squaring off against a gigantic heavily armed mass murderer. This girl is basically challenging the attacker with the body language of a tiger and telling him that the fight is on. In the picture of Maya she is demonstrating it in real time.

It would be unbelievable enough if Maya's story ended at that moment frankly. It hasn't ended. To be clear, Maya isn't the shut-in type. This 12 year old girl knew her way through the woods, around firearms, driving vehicles (she owned a dirt bike), athletics (she's a hockey player), and total environmentalist outdoors person like her Dad, and her Mom, and her friends and extended family. 

There was more than a plucky girl with instinct for survival on display. This girl was ready to fight. This girl is still ready to fight. Less than 7 months after the assault and massacre in the school library of Maya's home town of Tumbler Ridge, I'm not exaggerating, she was in Surrey, BC., waving to a 160-motorcycle strong jamboree raising money for her long-term medical needs from the multiple surgeries she had at BC Children's Hospital (corrected).

The bikers jam in Surrey, a large city in the Lower Mainland beside Vancouver, BC, was riding in salute to Maya (with Maya in attendance!) Aug. 10  to raise a few thousand dollars put towards her long-term care in recovery, not simply as a survivor of this tragedy in this northern BC community, but because there is incontrovertible evidence she's a hero. First there was testimony, then came the photographic evidence.

 The bikers heard Maya was a fan of motorcycles because she rides a dirt bike of her own so they put together a Biker's Fundraising Ride, and this jam raised nearly $4,000 for Maya's benefit that afternoon. That's how this amazing girl's story continues to unfold. The terrible sadness of the losses in Tumbler Ridge need to be acknowledged, as they are all cherished and missed, including by Maya herself: 

In honour of these families:

Victims at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School (6)

All six were killed at the school. Ages 12–39.

• Abel Mwansa, 12

• Zoey Benoit, 12

• Kylie Smith, 12

• Ticaria Lampert, 12

• Ezekiel Schofield, 13

• Shannda Aviugana‑Durand, 39 (educator)

Victims at the Fellers Avenue home (2)

Killed before the perpetrator went to the school.

• Jennifer Jacobs, 39 (mother of the perpetrator)

• Emmett Jacobs, 11 (half‑brother)

• Perpetrator

  • Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18 Died of a self‑inflicted injury at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

The survival of an overwhelming terror is slowly becoming a memory put in a rear-view mirror by the survivor herself, believe it or not.

A 12 year old girl of extraordinary courage is being returned to her former life on a day by day basis. The patient, our inspiring Maya Gebala, continues to amaze doctors, nurses, and the recovery team helping her at BC Children's Hospital. The amazing results of their care can be seen in the video below, because Maya Gebala was there for the Surrey Biker's Jamboree, and it was Maya's turn to smile, and blow kisses and rock on with the kind of people she admires.

Biker's Jam for Maya

Bker's Jam for Maya

After the Feb. 10 mass shooting at the Tumbler Ridge library, Maya Gebala was first stabilized by BC Emergency Health Services paramedics, who worked against the clock to keep her alive long enough for a Critical Care Air Ambulance transfer to Vancouver. She was flown directly to BC Children’s Hospital, where a full team of PICU intensivists, pediatric neurosurgeons, trauma surgeons, respiratory therapists, and neurology specialists took over her care. They managed her medically induced coma, performed multiple emergency operations, treated life‑threatening hydrocephalus, and later rebuilt part of her skull in a major cranioplasty. Maya has remained at BC Children’s Hospital throughout her recovery, supported by its rehabilitation and family‑care teams; no transfer to BC Women’s Hospital has ever been reported. Her survival reflects the seamless work of first responders, air‑medical crews, and the multidisciplinary specialists who have cared for her from the first moments after she was injured.

Story written by Copilot as requested, directed, and edited by Mack McColl for Public Safety

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