United States congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been discharged from the Houston hospital where she has been recovering since she was shot in the head at a meeting with constituents in January.
Tirr Memorial Hermann hospital said in a statement Ms Giffords will soon begin outpatient treatment at the same facility. The Arizona democrat's cognitive abilities and physical strength have improved, it said.
"Congresswoman Giffords has shown clear, continuous improvement from the moment she arrived at Tirr five months ago," said Dr Gerard Francisco, the hospital's chief medical officer. "We are very excited that she has reached the next phase of her rehabilitation and can begin outpatient treatment. We have no doubt that she will continue to make significant strides in her recovery."
Ms Giffords was shot in the head at close range by a gunman who opened fire at her and a crowd of bystanders at a political event on January 8th outside a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona. Twelve other people also were wounded, and six were killed, including a federal judge, a young girl and one of Ms Giffords' aides.
The 22-year-old college dropout charged with the shooting, Jared Loughner, was recently declared mentally incompetent to stand trial and was sent back to a Missouri hospital for federal prisoners last month.
The congresswoman spent the first three weeks after the shooting in a hospital in Tucson, then was transferred to Tirr Memorial Hermann in Houston on January 21st to begin rehabilitation.
The first photographs of Ms Giffords since she was shot were released on her Facebook page at the weekend.
Reuters