General

Gabrielle Giffords to attend husband’s shuttle launch this week

U.S. congresswoman making remarkable progress, say doctors

Gabrielle Giffords, the U.S. congresswoman who was shot in the head at a constituency event in Tuscon last January, has been cleared to attend her astronaut husband Mark Kelly’s space shuttle launch. Kelly, who is the commander of the Endeavour, told CBS News his wife’s reaction to the news was to pump her fist and say: “Awesome!” President Obama and other VIPs will also be present at the launch on Friday. Dr. Dong Kim, Giffords’ neurosurgeon, told the Arizona Republic that she has been given the green light to travel, and said that she is “maybe in the top 1 per cent of patients in terms of how far she’s come, and how quickly she’s gotten there.” Giffords is scheduled to undergo further surgery in May, when doctors will repair a section of her skull with a cranial implant. The bullet had passed through her brain’s left hemisphere, which controls speech and movement on the right side of the body. 22-year-old Jared Loughner has pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the shooting.

BBC News

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