Tumbler Ridge survivor's major update: 'Maya has opened her right eye and is responding'

After “defying expectations,” the Tumbler Ridge massacre survivor Maya Gebala showed major signs of progress on Saturday.

The shooting in the quiet community of Tumbler Ridge in B.C. was one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history , killing five students and a teacher. Shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar’s mother, 39, and half-brother, 11, were shot at home and were the shooter’s first two victims .

“Such exciting news,” wrote Krysta Hunt, cousin of Maya’s mother Cia , in an update on GoFundMe on Saturday. “Maya opened her right eye and is responding. She is moving her hand and leg on her right side.”

Krysta concluded the update by thanking everyone who prayed for Maya’s recovery and donated. The fundraising campaign with a goal to raise $250,000 had at the time of publishing raised over $456,266.

Krysta joins Maya’s father who on Wednesday acknowledged the tremendous progress made by the 12-year-old. “We were told we only had hours and yet here you are, still fighting, still with us,” Maya’s father David wrote in an update on GoFundMe. “You continue to defy every expectation the doctors and surgeons once prepared us for.”

Maya was admitted to the intensive care unit at B.C. Children’s hospital in Vancouver after she was shot trying to protect her classmates from the shooter who opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

Maya was reportedly in the library when she was shot. One shot grazed her cheek and ear, other shots hit her head and neck. The 12-year-old suffered significant damage to her brain from where the bullet exited.

“You went from not being able to move at all, to moving more and more each day,” her father wrote on Wednesday. “And now, the nurses have adjusted your ventilator to pressure support because you’re taking your own breaths. What an amazing milestone,” he added.

• 12-year-old Tumbler Ridge victim Maya moving to phase 'for recovery, instead of goodbyes,' mom say
• What we have learned about the warning signs of Tumbler Ridge mass shooter

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