Gabrielle Giffords released two pictures of a smiling Ms. Giffords, taken four months after she was shot in the head at an event to meet constituents near Tucson, Ariz. The pictures were taken May 17 at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital, and posted to her Facebook page this morning.
The Facebook post notes that the photographs were taken a day after the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour with Ms. Giffords’s husband, Commander Mark Kelly, aboard, and a day before she underwent surgery to replace a portion of her skull.
In a statement, photographer P.K. Weis said, “I’ve known Gabby for more than a decade and her staff asked me to do it because she wanted someone who was not a stranger – someone she would be comfortable around…It was very inspiring to see how much she had recovered in 4½ months. I was excited to see her and to see her smile. She was glad to see me, was in a good mood, smiling and laughing and seemed to enjoy the experience. I certainly did, too.”
Last week, Ms. Giffords’s chief of staff, Pia Carusone, said the congresswoman struggles to communicate and may not be able to run for re-election. Ms. Giffords uses gestures and facial expressions to communicate basic needs but “when it comes to bigger and more complex thought that requires words, that’s where she’s had the trouble,” Ms. Carusone said in an extensive interview with the Arizona Republic.
In May, a federal judge ruled that the alleged shooter in the Tucson rampage, Jared Loughner, was not mentally competent to stand trial for the 49 charges against him, a decision that will be revisited in the fall after Mr. Loughner’s placement in a psychiatric facility.
The Facebook post notes that the photographs were taken a day after the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour with Ms. Giffords’s husband, Commander Mark Kelly, aboard, and a day before she underwent surgery to replace a portion of her skull.
In a statement, photographer P.K. Weis said, “I’ve known Gabby for more than a decade and her staff asked me to do it because she wanted someone who was not a stranger – someone she would be comfortable around…It was very inspiring to see how much she had recovered in 4½ months. I was excited to see her and to see her smile. She was glad to see me, was in a good mood, smiling and laughing and seemed to enjoy the experience. I certainly did, too.”
In May, a federal judge ruled that the alleged shooter in the Tucson rampage, Jared Loughner, was not mentally competent to stand trial for the 49 charges against him, a decision that will be revisited in the fall after Mr. Loughner’s placement in a psychiatric facility.
No comments:
Post a Comment