09/09/2026
“Mom.” It is only one word, but for Cia Edmonds, it means everything. Six months ago, her 12-year-old daughter Maya was shot in the head during a school mass shooting, and doctors initially did not believe she would survive the night. Somehow, she did. The months that followed were filled with terrifying complications — MRSA in her lungs, meningitis, brain swelling, fluid leaking from her skull and four brain surgeries. Her mother watched her daughter fight through a trauma that changed every part of their lives. There were days when Cia had to grieve the child Maya used to be while still sitting beside the child who was fighting to survive. But progress slowly began to appear. Maya learned to communicate through buttons and an iPad, became more aware of her surroundings and started showing familiar pieces of her personality again. Her little smirk returned. So did the eye rolls and sarcasm between mother and daughter. Cia says she now sees “fragments” of the Maya she once knew blossoming back to life. Maya understands enough to know she is still in the hospital, and sometimes she cries because she wants to go home. But then she gave her mother something she had been praying for every day for months. She said, “Mom.” Cia says she prayed for that moment every single day. There is still a long road ahead, but today, this family has one more reason to believe in tomorrow. 🙏❤️