‘We encouraged one another’: Fathers of two Tumbler Ridge victims meet

Abel Mwansa, 12, is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Christopher Bwalya

The father of a 12-year-old boy killed in the Tumbler Ridge mass shootings says he met with the father of another victim who is fighting for her life in hospital, offering encouragement in her battle.

While Abel Mwansa’s family makes plans for his funeral in Africa, 12-year-old Maya Gebala remains unconscious in hospital after being shot in the head at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Feb. 10, where five schoolmates and a teacher’s aide were killed.

Mwansa’s father Abel Mwansa, who shares the same name with his late son, said he met Maya’s father David Gebala in Vancouver on Thursday during a visit to BC Children’s Hospital, where Maya is being treated.

An update from her family posted Wednesday through a GoFundMe page said Maya continues to “defy every expectation” of doctors.

“We were told we only had hours and yet here you are, still fighting, still with us,” David Gebala wrote in the update, adding that his daughter is moving and taking breaths on her own.

“He is a man of faith,” Mwansa said of David in a video posted to Facebook on Friday. “We encouraged one another yesterday.”

Mwansa asked people to continue to pray for Maya, and shared an update on efforts to repatriate the remains of his son to Zambia, the Mwansa family’s home country.

He said the family has the documentation it needs for repatriation and plans to set a funeral date in Zambia once they confirm travel dates with an airline.

Mwansa also took the time to thank people for their support.

“I just want to thank also the people of Tumbler Ridge who are stopping by day and night and bringing whatever they could bring, food and helping us as we are going through this difficult moment.”

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Marissa Birnie in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2026.