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University Hospitals Birmingham via AFP - Getty Images
Malala Yousufzai speaks to critical care consultant Dr. Mav Manji at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, after she underwent surgery.
A Pakistani schoolgirl who underwent reconstructive surgery in Britain after being shot in the head by the Taliban said on Monday she felt much better and was focused on her mission to help others.
A team of doctors carried out a five-hour operation on 15-year-old Malala Yousufzai on Saturday to mend parts of her skull with a titanium plate and help restore hearing on her left side with a cochlear implant.
Speaking 24 hours after waking up from surgery at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, Yousufzai said she was already walking around.
Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old shot by the Taliban in October, spoke to the media for the first time Monday and thanked them for their prayers, which she says has given her new life. NBC's Keir Simmons reports.
"I can walk a little bit, I can talk and I'm feeling better," she said from her hospital bed in a video clip released by the hospital.
"I think I will just get better very soon, and there will be no problem. The thing is my mission is the same, to help people, and I will do that," she said.
Yousufzai was shot in the head at point-blank range in October by the Taliban for advocating girls' education, and was brought to Britain for treatment.
Doctors at the hospital said they were impressed by her recovery so far and hopeful she would be discharged fairly soon, describing her as focused and enthusiastic.
"She should be feeling sorry for herself 24 hours after an operation like that, not talking about helping other people," said Dave Rosser, the hospital's medical director.
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Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai was shot by the Taliban for speaking out against Pakistani militants and promoting education for girls.
The attack on Yousufzai, as she left school in the Swat valley, drew widespread international condemnation, and the schoolgirl has become a symbol of resistance to the Taliban's efforts to deny women education and other rights.
"There's still a lot of support (for Yousufzai) coming in, a lot of communication coming in from around the world," Rosser said.
Related:
Malala, teen champion of girls' rights, nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Al-Qaida, Taliban struggle to justify attack on Pakistani teen
Thousands rally in Pakistan for Malala
'Strong young woman': Taliban shooting victim leaves UK hospital
Leave a Comment:
Malala is one brave girl. The world would be a better place if there are millions of Malala living among us.
She still has much to do. And she will do it.
Tariq needs to keep spreading awareness about civilian drone casualties...but he can't...because he was killed by a drone.
http://prcsd.org/resources/must-read/us-drone-kills-16-year-old.html
I hope she never goes back there because next time the evil Taliban thugs will shoot her twice in the head, or worse.
""I can walk a little bit, I can talk and I'm feeling better," she said from her hospital bed in a video clip released by the hospital."
First hats off to brave Malala and best of luck.
At the same time, I feel pain and anger at the state of affairs of girls and women in the Islamic hell holes like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other basket case nations.
Conditions of many girls and women in those nations are worse than that of Malala. They are unsung and unnoticed heroins!
British invented fountainheads of Islamic extremism on rampage all over the world and they are on the world map due to the US, Britain and many European nations.
Reason #4,276 why the Taliban suck. Good luck Malala, but please don't go back there because I fear those @!$%#s will finish what they started.
It is time to close down Sunni Islamic extremist Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques in non-Muslim world.
Oil rich Sunni rulers of House of Saud, Kuwait, UAE and many rich sheikhs and Pakis are responsible for inventing, funding, exporting Sunni Islamic haters and killers like Taliban, al Qaida, Boko Haram, MB, Salaffi and other label ones.
Some have become Frankenstein monsters as in Pakistan.
For world peace and economic stability, time has come to erase Saudi Arabia and Pakistan out of the map.
As a first step, declare both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as terrorist nations.
Western guys feel high that she is feeling good. Taliban feel pain (threatened by it.) This is the big (cultural) difference.
I think it would be smart to STOP posting her location in the media reporting. Your just letting her enemies know where she is which makes her an easier target for them to find.
The cowardly ignorant individuals that shot her in the head (and any who ordered it) should shoot themselves in the head and see if they are nearly as "favored" as she is.
Imagine being afraid of a little girl or what she might say? How good a life could you be leading, if so?
I thought she would have brain damage but no one would say if she did. I know people who do. I think she will need facial reconstructive surgery next, so the face looks more normal. It scars pretty bad, she might want to skip that surgery. I feel bad for Malala and wish her the best.
Amazing little girl. Also, isn't it amazing that she speaks better English than Mexican immigrants that have lived in the US for years?
How the hell did you drag Mexican immigrants into a story about a Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban? Is that all you think about? Creep.
My President is sending Drones on 'em right now.
I have seen no more obscenities known prier to mankind, as has been done by this Taliban.
WHERE IS PAKISTAN AS ITS OWN KIND ARE LIVING IN MEDIEVAL BARBARISM.
i take it no one has tried to post a comment from a mobile source because it is damn near impossible. I was reading this article on my nexus 7 and i wanted to comment on the fact that these Taliban SOBs are just about the scummiest people on the planet....but like i said trying to post a comment through a mobile source is an exercise in insanity.
A 'Taliban-drone" shot her.
Such a cowardly act - such a brave girl. Malala, you are an inspiration for all that is good. Your courage and humility are truly amazing. Keep getting better.
Malala can still be an inspiration to young Pakistani women and girls by recovering and voicing her support, during interviews and on social media, concerning efforts being made to improve the conditions for females in Pakistan. Perhaps one day she can return to Pakistan in a leadership role where she will have the position and power to make long lasting changes towards the betterment and advancement of all Pakistani women. Until then may her recovery be speedy with constant improvement.
There have been too many cases worse than Malalas in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
World ignored them and now there are just picking up one Malala case and acting as big saviors.
The Islamic extremist Frankenstein monsters have started backstabbing big time the inventers of Pakistan, British, and the masters (US and allies) who kept them alive.
In most of the Islamic terrorism and plots in the US, Britain, Europe and other places, Pakis have a hand.
Half of NATO forces deaths in Afghanistan are due to Pakis.
Before followers of Islamic cult set their feet on Afghan and Paki regions, these regions were quite peaceful and prosperous.
Once the cancer of Islam gradually got control of the region, those regions have become raping, stealing, looting and killing fields.
In Afghanistan, Paki proxies Taliban did not even tolerate Buddha’s statue in Bamiyan.
Many Paki areas and some Afghan areas have become breeding and exporting centers for illegal activities including drugs growing and trading and export of Islamic radicals and terrorists all over the world.
British invented Pakistan in 47 and Pakistan is supposed to be a pure Islamic nation. In Pakistan, it was massive genocides of minorities in between 48-50.
Percentages of Hindus and Sikhs were reduced from about 24 percent less than three years by rapes, stealing, lootings, terrorizing and killing on a massive scale.
Paki Islamic religious madness did not end there.
Sunni Pakis are after Ahmedias, Sufis (fake love and dance Islamic soap opera people), Shiites (20 percent), Hazaras, and Baloochs and other minority sects/tribes.
Shiites, Sufis, Ahmedias and other minority sects/tribes people are blown up while they pray in their mosques on Fridays. And even hospitals are bombed to kill those injured.
A Washington, DC based think tank Middle East Media Research Institute (www.memri.org) provides good details on what is going in Pakistan.
This young woman was brutally attacked in an attempt to kill her to silence her advocacy for women's rights and education of young women. In the meantime Pakistan announces the intent to erect a thirty million dollar theme park which women will be unable to fully enjoy the amenities. The money should be diverted to combating the male belief that females have no rights including educational access and can be attacked and otherwise abused at will by barbaric males.
Several years ago I was chatting with a young lady from Pakistan. I can't help but wonder if this is the same young lady I chatted with. The nature of our conversion was she told me how most of the world think people from that area are all terrorist. I told her that I didn't believe it that there are extremist in all cultures and belief systems that cause problems for the rest of the good people in a culture. I would like to think that this is the same young lady I talked with and wish her well on her road to recovery.
How this young woman was not picked as Time's Person of the Year is so beyond me. True courage!!!!!
Pakistan, like Iraq and Iran before them is going to become one of those "allies" that is going to come back to haunt us.