[CNN]
Malala's parents overjoyed after first visit in UK hospital - CNN.com
By Laura Smith-Spark , CNN
October 26, 2012 -- Updated 1234 GMT (2034 HKT)
CNN.com
London (CNN) -- There were tears of joy when Malala Yousufzai's family reunited
with her for the first time since she was flown to a British hospital for
treatment, her father said Friday.
"In the condition when I saw my daughter ... we were hopeful but we did not
expect ... that she can talk, that she can see," Ziauddin Yousufzai said.
"I love her and this morning, last night when we met her, there were tears in
our eyes and they were out of happiness, out of happiness," he said.
He described his daughter's survival after being shot in the head as a "miracle
for us" and became emotional as he told how the family at one point had started
to think about making funeral arrangements for her.
"She is not just my daughter, she is the daughter of everyone, she is the
sister of everyone," he said, speaking a day after he, his wife and two sons
arrived in Birmingham, England, to see her.
Doctors do not believe Malala has suffered serious brain damage, but say she
still faces a long road to full recovery.
Yousufzai spoke of how Malala, 15, had become an education rights activist at
an early age, and in so doing had become an international symbol of courage.
He said he is "thankful to the media of Pakistan ... because it is very
difficult to stand by a girl who stands up against terrorism. ... They were
warned by the terrorists but still they supported my daughter."
Malala: Symbol of global fight for education?
He also expressed gratitude to the Pakistani and British governments, as well
as the medical teams in both countries, for the care given to his daughter.
"She got the right treatment, at the right place, at the right time," he said.
Yousufzai, who was accompanied at the news conference by Malala's 12-year-old
brother, gave a detailed account of the traumatic days since Malala was shot by
a Taliban gunman in a school van carrying her home after taking an exam.
She was first rushed to a local hospital, then transferred to better facilities
in Peshawar and on to Islamabad, undergoing surgery as doctors sought to save
her life.
As her brain swelled as a result of the gunshot through her head, her family
began to fear that she might not pull through, he said. By the time she left on
a flight to Britain, she was in a medically induced coma, unable to see or
speak with her loved ones.
"She was in a very bad condition," her father said. He thanked God for the
improvement the family could now see, 11 days after she arrived in Britain.
Speaking alongside him, Dr. Dave Rosser, medical director of University
Hospitals Birmingham, gave the most positive prognosis yet for Malala's
recovery.
"We don't think she has significant brain damage," he said, adding that she is
very tired but "managed a big smile" when she saw her family.
The teenager is now walking with little help and "appears to have very good
memories of both the last few days of her care and events prior to this
incident," he said.
She is having tests on her hearing and vision Friday, mostly as a precaution
because the bullet entered above her left eyebrow, he explained.
Pakistan college renamed in honor of Malala
Rosser also said Malala is now clear of the infection that was troubling
doctors last week. At that point Malala could not speak because a tube had been
inserted into her trachea to protect her airway, and was writing notes to
communicate with medical staff.
Despite her great progress, however, the teen still faces weeks or months of
recovery and rehabilitation, both physical and psychological, Rosser said.
Doctors expect to operate again once she's strong enough, to repair her skull
and possibly her jaw joint.
Her progress has been followed closely by supporters in Pakistan and around the
world who were outraged by the Taliban's October 9 attack.
Malala has been thinking about school even while she lies in her hospital bed,
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters after meeting with her
family Thursday, and she asked her father to take her school books with him.
"The mission she has taken forward and the education awareness that has spread
across Pakistan is all Malala's doing," he said, according to PTV. "So I think
that our entire nation should be proud of her love for the soil of her country."
After Malala recovers and returns to Pakistan, he said, "we will provide her
with complete security, despite anyone's refusal, to ensure that something like
this never happens again. The attack on Malala was a mindset of people who
don't want to see this country progress."
Arrests made in Malala shooting
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the shooting in the conservative
Swat Valley but don't appear to have anticipated the level of condemnation it
would provoke.
Thousands of people in Pakistan and elsewhere have attended rallies and vigils
honoring her courage and praying for her recovery.
Malala initially gained international attention in 2009, writing a blog about
her life as the Taliban gained a foothold in her home region of Swat, a Taliban
redoubt in northwest Pakistan, near Afghanistan.
Opinion: Why Malala should not be turned into modern Joan of Arc
CNN's Jonathan Wald and Shaan Khan contributed to this report.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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