Who is Gabby Giffords and what caused her brain injury?

Giffords used her speech to endorse Harris as the Democratic nomination for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election taking place in November, describing Harris as a “tough” figure that could “beat the gun lobby.”

Following her groundbreaking appearance at the high-profile event, voters are looking to learn more about Giffords’ brain injury, plus, how and when she entered her admirable road to recovery.

So, who is Gabby Giffords?

Gabby Giffords (born 1970) served as the United States House of Representatives congresswoman for Arizona’s 8th district from 2007 to 2012. Previously, Giffords was a member of the Arizona Senate from 2003 to 2005, and a congresswoman representing the 13th district in the Arizona state House of Representatives from 2001 to 2003.

Kelly married former astronaut Mark Kelly in 2007, who, according to Giffords, had no intention of entering politics. Although a Republican in her earlier life, Giffords’ political career was exclusively as a member of the Democratic Party, having switched in 2000.

Before her tenure in the U.S. Congress was cut short, Giffords was in the moderate wing of the party, adopting more conservative policies on economics and gun control, as a then-gun owner and supporter of the Second Amendment – although she supported an Arizona state proposal for a ban on “the sale or transfer of semi-automatic guns.”

Giffords’ 2011 assassination attempt, brain injury, and recovery

On Jan. 8, 2011, at an event held in a Safeway parking lot intended for Giffords to speak with her constituents, Jared Lee Loughner – an Arizona native who was vocally opposed to modern U.S. politics (Giffords in particular) and was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia – opened fire at Giffords and several constituents, using a Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol.

Loughner shot Giffords in the head, before firing randomly at others present, injuring 15 and killing 6, including Arizona district judge John Roll and nine-year-old Christina-Taylor Green. Giffords was hospitalized and treated for emergency brain surgery, as the bullet had entered through her left eye and into the brain’s left hemisphere.

Although surgery and subsequent rehabilitation therapies were successful for Giffords, re-gaining the ability to walk and talk after the surgery, the congresswoman was diagnosed with aphasia following the event. Giffords’ traumatic brain injury (TBI) that formed the condition permanently altered her ability to communicate. Giffords also has limited mobility in her right arm and leg, as well as partial vision in her right eye.

Giffords resigned from her post in January 2012 to concentrate on her recovery, with her husband Mark Kelly later being elected as a senator for Arizona in 2020. Following her departure, Giffords and Kelly started a pro-gun control political action committee (PAC), Americans for Responsible Solutions. They also co-wrote a biography detailing the shooting and recovery, titled Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Safe from Gun Violence.

Giffords has continued campaigning for tighter gun laws, speaking at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Democratic National Conventions during segments dedicated to advocating for gun control. For her efforts, Giffords was rewarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022 by President Joe Biden.