Gabrielle Giffords |
Giffords will attend a vigil scheduled in Tucson at the headquarters of the University of Arizona (UA), which will come with her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly.
The vigil is one of the events taking place in Tucson to remember the tragedy in which well over a dozen people were injured.
"Congresswoman Giffords wants to Tucson this weekend so emotional," said a statement Pia Carusone, Giffords office. "He feels it is important to be in your city with your family, your team and close friends," he said.
At the vigil, which will come families of the victims, also involved Dr. Peter Rhee, chief of the division of trauma, intensive care and surgery, which was part of the team of doctors who treated Giffords and others wounded.
For weeks, Rhee was asked to disclose the medical report of the congressman, whose evolution physicians themselves called it a miracle.
Giffords was hit by a bullet that pierced the left hemisphere of the brain that houses the motor and speech-and in the early days some media have come to take for dead in the congressman.
In the attack, perpetrated by a youth of 22 years, Jared Loughner, six people were killed, including a nine year old girl, Christina Taylor Green, born on the day of the 11-S, and 13 others injured.
Gabe Zimmerman, assistant Giffords, Federal Judge John Roll, 63, Dorwan Stoddard, a former construction worker of 76 years, Phyllis Scheneck, a housewife of 79 years, Dorothy Morris, 76, also died in the attack.
Loughner, who was declared mentally incompetent by a judge to appear before a trial, is in jail accused of crimes and the attempted assassination of the congressman.
After several operations and an intense therapy Giffords, who still has difficulty speaking and moving an arm, came in late April at the base of Cape Canaveral to bid farewell to her husband who led the last trip of the shuttle Endeavour.
At that time offered no statements, but had a brief encounter with President Barack Obama, who had visited Giffords and her family when she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of university hospital in Tucson, and the other victims .
The Arizona Rep. reappeared by surprise in the Lower House on August 1 last year to vote on the plan on raising the U.S. debt ceiling and was received the applause of their peers, to participate in one of the key votes of the legislature.
The House passed by 269 votes in favor to 161 votes against the bipartisan agreement that will boost debt ceiling before the deadline of August 2, thus avoiding U.S. bankruptcy.
After days of missed opportunities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans forgot their differences to honor the Democratic congressman with a heartfelt applause.
Last November, Giffords spoke for the first time the event and the difficult process of rehabilitation, in an exclusive interview with the program "20 Minutes" ABC channel.
The network showed pictures of the congressman in the hospital shortly after the shooting, which is seen lying in bed with a large scar that runs through the head as well as during therapy, learning to speak again and walking through the hallways.