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Wounded US Congresswoman Arrives in Texas

22 January 2011 04:26 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has arrived in Houston, Texas, to enter a rehabilition center, less than two weeks after she was shot in the head during a public event in her home state of Arizona, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

Veterans on motorcycles accompanied Giffords Friday as she was taken by ambulance from a hospital in Tucson to a waiting plane at a nearby Air Force base.

Her husband, NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, was among those accompanying her on the journey.

Kelly told reporters Thursday he is â€œextremely hopefulâ€ about the progress his wife is making. Though he says he expects Giffords to be walking in two weeks, doctors caution that her rehabilitation will take a long time.

It is not clear yet whether the bullet damaged her speech or motor skills.

Doctors said Giffords stood up on her own and took a few steps Wednesday. Kelly says she has made attempts to speak, despite the fact that she has a tube in her throat to help her breathe.

Wednesday, a federal grand jury in Arizona indicted shooting suspect 22-year-old Jared Loughner for attempting to assassinate Giffords and attempting to murder two of her aides in the January 8 attack. Six people were killed in the shooting outside a grocery store in Tucson.

The U.S. attorney for Arizona said the charges are only the beginning of legal action against Loughner. The attempted assassination and attempted murder charges carry a possible sentence of life in prison. If he is later indicted for murder, he could face the death penalty.