Gabby Giffords Happy To Be Moving Home To Tuscon

Gabby Giffords and her husband have moved back to Tuscon, a year and a half after she was moved to a hospital in Houston for intensive therapy following her being shot by a gunman during an appearance at a grocery store.

The Associated Press reported that as Giffords’ therapy schedule lessened in Houston, she and her husband made the move back to Tuscon.

Giffords was shot by Jared Lee Loughner in a 2011 attack that left 19 people shot, six of whom died. For the last 18 months Giffords underwent a rigorous schedule of physical therapy as she recovered from being shot in the head.

Loughner pleaded guilty earlier this month to the shooting rampage in a plea deal that sends him to prison for life. He is scheduled to be sentenced November 15.

Gabby Giffords’ husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, said that his wife’s therapy will continue in Tuscon but won’t be as intense as the six- to eight-hour sessions she endured in Houston.

“You know, it’s time for her to get back to as much of a normal life as possible after this type of catastrophic injury,” Kelly told the Arizona Daily Star. “Obviously, a big thing for her is to come home.”

Gabby Giffords is still suffering the effects of the shooting, Kelly said. She has little memory of the weeks that followed the injury, though she did realize that she was away from home and talked often about returning. As soon as Kelly realized that she could transfer her therapy over to Tuscon they made the move.

Kelly also said he believes Gabby Giffords will one day be able to make speeches and give interviews again, though he couldn’t say exactly when.