The Hill News

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’s spokesman said on Monday night the Arizona Democrat is continuing to show signs of improvement as she moves towards her rehabilitation phase.

Giffords was among 19 people shot this month at a constituent event in a grocery store parking lot in Tucson, Ariz. The bullet that struck Giffords passed through her brain, and doctors have been working around the clock to repair the damage.

{mosads}“She is continuing to show amazing progress,” C.J. Karamargin told The Hill in a phone interview.

“She has a lot of people praying for her and I really think those prayers are being heard because her resilience and strength has really been evident in these past few days," he said.

"Each progress report that we’re getting from the doctors seems to be an affirmation of just how much of a fighter she is. It’s astounding really that someone can make so much progress so quickly," he added. "The doctors are rea! lly hopeful and as a result we are really hopeful."

Over the weekend, Giffords underwent a procedure to repair a fractured eye socket and has recovered nicely from it, according to University Medical Center Chief of Neurosurgery Dr. Michael Lemole.

“I'm happy to say that within a few hours of the surgery she was waking up, and through the weekend she came back to the same baseline she had been before the surgery, that same level of interaction she had had with us,” Lemole said. “And that's all very good.”

As long as she continues to recover at the same pace, the next step for Giffords will be physical rehabilitation, said Lemole.