The mother of Tumbler Ridge shooting survivor Maya Gebala has revealed that her family is struggling to find stable housing in Canada, forcing them to live "between a car and a couch." In an update posted on a GoFundMe page on May 29, Cia Edmonds detailed the family's ongoing housing challenges.
Housing Struggles and Government Benefits
"It has been nearly impossible to acquire housing," Edmonds wrote. "We need a ground-level entrance or an elevator, and a roll-in shower, knowing she will likely be in a wheelchair." She added that she and Maya's sister, Dahlia, initially stayed in a series of Airbnbs, believing that victim services would cover accommodations and expenses as indicated on the government website.
However, Edmonds shared that the family does not qualify for the "list of potential benefits covered for traumatized families searching for a new normal in an unthinkable situation." She explained, "Turns out, legislation is written in such a way, we don't qualify. So all and any expenses are left to be fulfilled by any organizations holding donations, that has literally saved us so far."
"So, with that, accommodations have become too much, and we live between the back of my car and a couch in the hospital. Hoping we find a place that fits all our requirements sometime soon," she wrote.
Decision to Stay in Canada
Last month, Edmonds confirmed that the family remains in Canada, despite previously accepting an offer from Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White to pay for Maya's treatment and accommodation in Los Angeles. In the recent GoFundMe update, she clarified, "We never went to L.A. for anyone who believed we did, it just didn't happen. There was too much uncertainty and Maya's state was too fragile to have the travel worth the risk."
She added that they are now researching neurospecific hospitals worldwide for advanced treatment, saying, "If we find one she may qualify for, we would rather go broke taking any potential avenues available, than walk the arduous path of 'wait and see.'"
Maya's Condition and Recovery
Twelve-year-old Maya has been at B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver since February 10, after she was shot by Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, during a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge. Six people were killed at a school and two others in a home during the attack.
On Maya's current condition, Edmonds wrote, "People ask me, regularly, is Maya okay? I suppose. If okay is the mid line on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being dead, 10 being thriving, I suppose okay would suffice." She added, "She can't communicate. Or articulate feelings. Her eyes tell me she is in there still."
Maya had her fifth, and possibly final, surgery on May 5, which Edmonds said "went well." The day before the surgery, she shared in a Facebook update, "If all goes well, she will receive her prosthetic skull piece. If all goes GREAT it could be her last surgery." She also described the week leading up to the surgery, noting that the portion of Maya's head where "the missing flap is, had swollen, deflated, and swollen again ... It is very hard to watch, especially when we don't really know why."
