Giffords to attend husband's shuttle launch in Florida

 

 

 

 

An undated file photo shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, with her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly.

The Arizona congresswoman still recovering from a gunshot wound to the head has been cleared by doctors to travel to Cape Canaveral to watch the launch of Endeavour, which husband Mark Kelly is commanding.

Reporting from Houston—

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords plans to attend her husband's space shuttle launch in Florida on Friday, he said, in what will be the Arizona congresswoman's first excursion since she was flown to Houston more than three months ago to recover from a gunshot wound to the head.

In an interview with CBS' Katie Couric, husband Mark E. Kelly said Giffords' doctors had given her permission to go to Kennedy Space Center for the launch of Endeavour, which Kelly is commanding.

CBS released excerpts of the interview, which is scheduled to air Monday on the "CBS Evening News," according to a network statement.

"I've met with her doctors, her neurosurgeon … and they've given us permission to take her down to the launch," Kelly said in the interview.

James Hartsfield, spokesman for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, referred all questions about Giffords to the congresswoman's office.

President Obama and the first family also are scheduled to watch the launch, although it's unclear if they will watch with Giffords.
It will be the first time Giffords has traveled since she was flown from Tucson to Houston on Jan. 21 for rehab. The Democrat was shot in the head Jan. 8 as she was holding a community outreach event in the parking lot of a Tucson shopping center.

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the attack and is in custody. Six people were killed and 13 wounded, including Giffords.

She has not been seen publicly since the shooting and has spent the last three months relearning how to speak, walk and take care of herself. She has been singing — as part of musical therapy — asking for her favorite foods and visiting with family, friends and her rabbi.

Kelly returned to training for the shuttle launch in February after taking time off to be at his wife's bedside.

Giffords went to Kelly's last launch in 2008 when he commanded space shuttle Discovery. The two married in 2007.

Earlier, a report in the Arizona Republic said the congresswoman was planning to "walk a mountain" when she returned to Tucson.

Nurse Kristy Poteet said Giffords pushes a cart up and down the hospital halls as therapy, focusing on using the correct muscles. More therapy comes from games of bowling and indoor golf.

Her physicians place her in the top 5% of patients recovering from her type of brain injury, the Arizona Republic said.
"She shows a lot more independence right now," said Dr. Gerard Francisco, chief medical officer at Houston's Memorial Hermann rehabilitation institute, who works with her daily. "She's her own person."

Those close to Giffords told the Republic that she speaks most often with a single word or declarative phrase: "love you," "awesome."

She longs to leave the rehab center, repeating, "I miss Tucson." When that day comes, Giffords told Poteet she plans to "walk a mountain."