TUCSON, AZ — Fifteen years after surviving a mass shooting that changed her life forever, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords continues to forge ahead, no matter what obstacles stand in her way.
On January 8, 2011, Giffords was targeted at a "Congress on Your Corner" event outside of a Tucson Safeway. The mass shooting would claim six lives and injure 13 others, including Giffords. The tragedy fundamentally altered the trajectory of her life, forcing her to work tirelessly to recover, rebound, and re-learn so many things most people take for granted.
On a blustery Arizona Saturday, from the Gabe Zimmerman Trailhead in Vail, outside Tucson, Giffords and her husband, Senator Mark Kelly, spoke with survivors and supporters and family members who lost loved ones that day.
"Fifteen years ago, on January 8, 2011, a man tried to assassinate me," Giffords said in a social media video.
The event was designed to bring people together, but instead, ripped apart so many lives. Giffords was rushed to University Medical Center in Tucson on a stretcher, barely clinging to life. Several cable news networks initially reported she did not survive.
Her husband, Senator Mark Kelly, who was then an astronaut training for his final mission in space in Houston, recalled the devastating day.
"I remember that day very well," says Sen. Kelly. "I can give almost every detail of it. And it was a devastating day. But you go from a low, a real low, to well, there is some hope here."
"But I have to say," Kelly told his wife, "when I saw you that first time, it was not looking...not looking hopeful. A lot of tubes, a big bandage."
It's a statement that would bring a smile to Giffords' face, knowing she would truly get the last laugh - blazing past all expectations through years of intensive rehabilitation.
"Yoga twice a week, French horn, Spanish lessons, biking, El Tour de Tucson — 32 miles," Giffords said, describing her current activities.
"She keeps busy!" Kelly said. "A lot of hard work."
Giffords has worked especially hard to regain her ability to speak through countless hours of speech therapy over the years to help counteract the aphasia she developed, a language disorder common in people who have had strokes or traumatic brain injuries.
Although the words can sometimes be harder to find, Giffords refused to be silenced.
"Setbacks are hard, but I tell myself, 'move ahead,'" Giffords said. "But I never lose hope. I chose to make a new start."
When asked what advice she would give to someone who feels like giving up, Giffords responded: "Be a leader, set an example, be passionate, be courageous. Be your best."
Kelly added, "And don't give up. Never give up."
"No way," Giffords agreed.
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