The Hill News

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and husband Mark Kelly discuss during an interview airing Monday their persistent desire to have a child as well as her road to recovery from being shot in the head.

Giffords was shot at a constituent meet-and-greet near Tucson in January by a gunman who also killed six bystanders. The bullet entered just over her left eye, traveling through the left side of her brain.

"It's clear that any lower, it would've killed her, any further midline, it would've killed her," Kelly told ABC in an interview set to air Monday evening. "If it crossed hemispheres, it would've killed her. Any further outboard, she'd neve! r be able to speak again. Any higher, she'd never be able to walk."

Home video from Giffords's recovery shows her struggling through therapy, which was an intensive process over the course of several months. Giffords wore a helmet while attempting to walk, struggled to give a thumbs-up, and practiced saying simple sentences such as "I love you." According to ABC, Giffords experiences aphasia, a language disorder common in brain injury patients.

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