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Giffords Ordeal Came at Dawn of New Medical Era

Posted byHoumanitarian

(Zain Shauk & Todd Ackerman/Houston Chronicle)
When U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head one year ago today, many thought there was little chance she would survive, let alone open her eyes, walk or talk.

But the Arizona congresswoman, who will attend a vigil on Sunday in Tucson to remember the rampage that left six dead and wounded her and 12 others, had determination, abundant resources and, most importantly, a new era in brain medicine on her side.

“We’re at an evolution today with traumatic brain injury, much like where doctors were with cancer and heart disease some 40, 50 years ago,” said Dr. Geoff Manley, chief of neurotrauma at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. “We’re just now learning that people like Giffords can not only be treated but can have meaningful recoveries.”

Giffords benefited from aggressive approaches to surgery and therapy born out of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military doctors found that soldiers formerly dismissed as the “expectant dead” could recover with the right treatment. That approach, unheard of less than two decades ago, played a key role in Giffords’ treatment and recovery.

The world also benefited from Giffords’ ordeal. The spotlight on her story brought a greater awareness to a number of areas – the importance of Level 1 trauma centers, the potential of brain trauma therapy, the grueling recovery process, the need for long-term treatment to be more available to most people and the call for more research to take the field out of its infancy.

But the care she received is dependent upon literally hundreds of individuals here in Houston and elsewhere. (Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle)

Related Stories:
• Giffords Care Team at TIRR-Memorial Reflect on Work (KHOU-11 News)
• In Tucson: Victims Still Healing a Year After Shooting (Reuters)

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