Blog 8: Shot Pakistani schoolgirl can stand, communicate, hospital says

According to the director of the UK hospital where she is undergoing treatment, Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai stood up with the help of nurses today (Friday) for the first time since her shooting and is "communicating very freely." Malala was shot in the head after she defied the Taliban by insisting on the right of girls to go to school. Unfortunately, the young girl can't talk because she has a tracheotomy tube inserted to protect her airway, which was swollen after her gunshot injury, but she is writing coherent sentences. There "is certainly physical damage to the brain" from the bullet that entered Malala's head but she appears to be functioning well intellectually and with the help of nurses, has the motor control to stand nurses. Doctors say that it is too early to tell "whether there's any subtle intellectual or memory deficits down the line.”  Malala is keen that people share the details, and is well aware of the amount of interest this is generating around the world. The shooting, which happend in the northwestern district of Swat last week, generated a wave of shock and anger in Pakistan, but also globally.The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the horrid act, but they didn't seem to have anticipated the amount of “repulsion and condemnation” that it would provoke. Thousands of people joined in rallies across Pakistan in support of the wounded teen, and calls have grown for a strong response from the government. Authorities are currently investigating the attack and say they have made a number of arrests.

I don’t even know how to begin describing my feelings about this little girl. She was riding home on a bus carrying girls home from school in Pakistan on Tuesday, and a group of Taliban men approached her and shot her in the head. For what exactly? Advocating girls’ education rights! “The Taliban, whose religious, social and political views are founded on a brutally anti-woman ideology, cannot countenance even a young girl challenging their ideas on a blog.” Another article I had read called the Taliban cowards. I agree completely. You must be a coward to be scared of a young 14 year old girl for standing up for her and other girls’ rights, and what put the girl on their hit list was her not being scared of the group. The Afghani men are ordered to grow beards, and women are whipped in public as punishment for real, imagined or fabricated offenses. Malala has my utmost respect, and I hope that something will be done to alleviate the oppressed people of Afghanistan.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/19/world/europe/uk-pakistani-teen-activist/index.html