The condition of U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was upgraded from critical to serious on Sunday, the hospital said, a day after she was freed from a ventilator.
University Medical Center in Tucson said Giffords is continuing to 'do well' and is breathing on her own, allowing her status to be upgraded to serious. On Saturday morning, a tracheotomy was performed on Giffords to replace the breathing tube which had been running down her throat with a tracheotomy tube in her windpipe, protecting her airway and freeing her from the ventilator. "These procedures are not uncommon among brain-injured patients in the Intensive Care Unit," a hospital spokesperson said on Saturday, adding that surgeons also inserted a feeding tube to provide nutritional support. A total of three Tucson shooting victims, including Giffords, remain at University Medical Center.
The shooting happened at about 10.11 a.m. MST at a supermarket in northwest Tucson on January 8 where U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was hosting her first "Congress on Your Corner" of the year. Jared Lee Loughner, 22, opened fire, killing six people and injuring 13 others.
Among the fatalities were 9-year-old Christina Greene and U.S. District Judge John Roll. U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who appears to have been the target, was critically injured as a result of a gunshot wound to her head.
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