Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head by Taliban forces for her outspoken support of girls’ education, was released yesterday from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK. She is currently staying with her family at a temporary home in the United Kingdom before going back to the hospital for reconstructive surgery within the next month.
Dr. Dave Rosser, the hospital’s medical director, told reporters, “Malala is a strong young woman and has worked hard with the people caring for her to make excellent progress in her recovery. … Following discussions with Malala and her medical team, we decided that she would benefit from being at home with her parents and two brothers.”
Yousafzai was targeted by the Taliban early in 2012 after she published a diary under a pen name, published by the BBC, criticizing the Taliban and the opposition faced by girls trying to get an education in Pakistan. In October, she was shot in the head after two men approached her school van on her way home from school. She was immediately rushed to a Pakistani hospital where doctors removed the bullets lodged in her head. She was then transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for specialized treatment.
