Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is to move back to Tuscan with her husband, a year and a half after being shot during a political event. Giffords had to move to Houston 18 months ago in order to undergo intensive speech and physical therapy.
Retired astronaut and Giffords’ husband, Mark E Kelly, informed the Arizona Daily Star that Giffords would continue to undergo therapy following her relocation back to Tuscan, but that it would no longer have to be the intensive eight hours a day kind that she has been receiving in Houston. “It’s time for her to get back to as much of a normal life as possible after this type of catastrophic injury,” Kelly says. “Obviously, a big thing for her is to come home.”
Giffords was one of 19 people who were shot during the attack, six of whom received fatal injuries. The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, pleaded guilty on August 2nd to the rampage as part of a deal he made with prosecutors to be spared a possible death sentence, but will spend the rest of his life in prison. He will be sentenced on November 15th.
Kelly says that he and his wife have been discussing the move back home for some time, since it became clear that therapy was set to begin winding down. Kelly says that Giffords is likely to be up to interviews and speeches in the future, but at this stage does not know exactly when this will be.
Lance Grooms