Pakistani girl stable in UK hospital as support floods in
UK: The 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by the
Taliban was in a stable condition in a British hospital on Wednesday as
well-wishers from around the world left her messages of support. Doctors
said Malala Yousafzai spent a second comfortable night at the highly
specialised Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England,
which is accustomed to treating British soldiers wounded in Afghanistan.
On Wednesday she “remained in a stable condition and continued to
impress doctors by responding well to her care,” a hospital spokesman
said.
The teenager's family were still in Pakistan, he added. Malala was
shot on a school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of the Swat valley
last week as a punishment for campaigning for the right of girls to an
education, in an attack which outraged the world.
She came to prominence with a blog for the BBC highlighting
atrocities under the Taliban, the hardline Islamists who terrorised the
Swat valley from 2007 until an army offensive in 2009.
The teenager had a bullet removed from her skull during an operation
in Pakistan last week. Donations towards her care, which is being funded
by the Pakistani government, are being received by the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital's charity while hundreds of people have left messages of
support on the hospital's website, lauding her campaigning and praying
for her recovery.
The hospital later announced that a special fund had been set up to
deal with the influx of donations.
“When she is well enough we will ask her how she wants those
donations to be spent in support of the care she is receiving,” said the
hospital trust's website.
The well-wishers are from countries including Pakistan, Britain,
India, the United States, Libya, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Myanmar,
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, New Zealand, the
Philippines, Rwanda and the Netherlands. “We the Pakistanis are so sorry
that a little girl like you had to stand up for all of us. If we had
shown some courage you would have been safe and healthy today. Malala,
get well please, we need you,” wrote Durre Nayab. “Please accept my and
my family's gratitude for what you have stood for. You are a true
daughter of Pakistan. We are in your debt forever. Get well soon,” said
Munir Pervaiz.
AFP |