Malala Yousafzai, the young teen activist who was shot by the Pakistani Taliban last October, was discharged from a Birmingham hospital Friday to recover at home until her next surgery.
Doctor's plan to perform cranial reconstructive surgery on Malala within the next month, aiming to patch the young girl's injured skull with either her own bone or a titanium plate. Until then, Malala “is well enough to be treated by the hospital as an outpatient for the next few weeks,” the hospital said in a statement.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital released a video showing Malala walking out of the hospital with the help of a nurse. Malala is seen waving to the camera with a half-smile, highlighting the dramatic change in her condition since her admission to the hospital.
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“Malala is a strong young woman and has worked hard with the people caring for her to make excellent progress in her recovery," said Dr. David Rosser, the hospital’s medical director. "Following discussions with Malala and her medical team, we decided that she would benefit from being at home with her parents and two brothers."
Malala is an outspoken advocate for Pakistani girls' right to education. She was targeted by the Taliban for a diary she wrote detailing life under oppressive Taliban rule in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. Her shooting galvanized a global movement for her cause.
Celebrations of her release from Queen Elizabeth Friday however coincides with a deadly shooting in Islamabad, where gunmen unloaded on a van carrying local community center employees, killing five female teachers and two aid workers.
Malala's father, Ziauddin, was appointed to a three-year term as Pakistan’s education attaché in Birmingham. And Malala herself was shortlisted for TIME magazine's 'Person of the Year' in 2012.