On January 8, 2011 in Tucson, AZ a gunman tried to silence the voice of former United States House Representative Gabby Giffords in a fatal shooting which took the lives of six people, including Christina-Taylor Green, a 9-year-old girl. Though she stepped down from Congress in January 2012, Giffords has remained an active member of society and a driving force for political change in the United States.
Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly open up about their journey in their recently released TED talk. In the video interviewer Paul Mitchell asks”
?Gabby, has your recovery been an effort to create a new Gabby Giffords or reclaim the old Gabby Giffords??
She responds ?The new one — better, stronger, tougher.? The audience explodes in applause afterwards.
Giffords, who now suffers from Aphasia — a neurological disorder resulting from her gunshot wound to the head — has trouble with language comprehension at times.
Speaking on the optimistic nature of his wife , Mark Kelly has stated:
?It’s only my wife who could be — and if you knew her before she was injured, you would kind of understand this — somebody who could be injured and have such a hard time communicating and meets with a speech therapist, and then about a month ago, she says, I want to learn Spanish again.”
Giffords and her husband have founded the organization “Americans For Responsible Solutions.” According to their website, the organization describes itself as “a way to encourage elected officials to both stand up for the 2nd amendment and safer communities by communicating directly with the constituents that elect them.”
Giffords is a third generation Arizonan and long-time gun owner.
edited by tw
