Shooting victim Giffords vows to return

American politician Gabrielle Giffords has vowed to return to Congress in a new book that details her battle to come to terms with being shot when a gunman opened fire in front of a Tucson grocery store.

The memoir, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, is the most personal and detailed look yet at Ms Giffords’ struggle over the past ten months to relearn how to walk and talk. It also describes her painful discovery that 12 others were wounded and six killed during the attack in January.

The book is written by Ms Giffords’ husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, but Ms Giffords delivers the last chapter – a single page of short sentences and phrases, entitled “Gabby’s Voice”, in which she says her goal is to get back to Congress.

“I will get stronger. I will return,” she vows.

Ms Giffords, 40, stunned colleagues by appearing on the US House floor in Washington in August for a vote, but she has focused most of her time on her recovery at a rehabilitation centre in Houston.

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