Gabby and Mark on their wedding day.
One year ago today, on January 8th, 2011 Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 18 other people including some of her staff members were shot outside a Safeway in Tuscon, Arizona. Gabby was shot in the head, but survived along with 12 others. One of her interns, Daniel Hernandez Jr. is credited for saving Gabby's life by immediately giving her first aid. Six of the people who were shot died from their injuries. Here are their names:
1) Christina-Taylor Green, 9, of Tucson. Green was accompanied to the meeting by neighbor Susan Hileman. Because her date of birth was September 11, 2001, she had appeared in the book Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11 (page 41). She was the granddaughter of former Major League Baseball player and manager Dallas Green.
2) Dorothy "Dot" Morris, 76, a retired secretary from Oro Valley; wife of George, who was wounded.
3) John Roll, 63, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Arizona, named to the federal bench by President George H. W. Bush in 1991.
4) Phyllis Schneck, 79, homemaker from Tucson.
5) Dorwan Stoddard, 76, retired construction worker, died from a gunshot wound to the head; his wife Mavy was wounded.
6) Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman, 30, community outreach director for Giffords, and a member of Giffords' staff since 2006. Mr. Zimmerman was the first Congressional staffer killed in the line of duty.
In addition to the six dead, thirteen other people were wounded by gunshot in the attack, while a fourteenth person was injured, but not by gunshot. Gabrielle Giffords and two other members of her staff were among the surviving gunshot victims.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords being taken away from shooting scene by paramedics. The man holding her hand is Daniel Hernandez Jr., the intern credited with saving Gabby's life. He applied pressure to Gabby's wound and kept her from choking on her own blood until help arrived.
Memorial set up for Gabby in the days after the shooting.
Today Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark are back in Tuscon, Arizona and will attend a candlelight vigil at the University of Arizona on Sunday evening. Yesterday, Gabby and Mark visited the Safeway store were Gabby was shot, her first time being there since 1/8/2011. She visited with the medical staff at University of Arizona Medical Center who treated her and the others bullet wounds. Gabby and Mark also hiked outside of Tuscon yesterday on a desert trail named after Gabe Zimmerman, Gabby's staff aide who was killed.
The shooter Jared Loughner, 23, was found mentally unfit to stand trial. He is being treated in a federal prison hospital in Missouri. Hopefully, one day he will stand trial and pay for his heartless actions.
Gabby is a fighter and beat the odds. I hope that people will take the time today to honor Gabby and the other shooting victims. I know I will burning some candles later, one for each of the people who were shot and/or killed. My thoughts are with you Gabby and Mark.
In this photo provided by the office of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Giffords and husband Mark Kelly pose at the Davidson Canyon Gabe Zimmerman Memorial trail head outside of Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012.
Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly have also wrote a book about the shooting and her road to recovery. The book is called "Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope". Gabby is still recovering and had to re-learn how to walk, talk, read, and write. She has come along way, but still has a long way to go. The book focuses mainly the aftermath of the Tuscon shooting and the amazing survival of Gabby and her fight to recover and heal. The book is an amazing story of courage, strength, and love. I hope that more people will buy this book, because it is an incredible story.
Cover of the book Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly wrote.
Note: These photos are not my own and all rights belong to the photographers who took them.
