Well-wishers lined the street Friday as an ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and escorted by veterans on motorcycles made its way from a Tucson hospital to an air force base where she’ll board a plane to begin rehabilitation in Houston. Giffords, who is being treated for a catastrophic head wound, is headed to a renowned rehabilitation hospital in Houston, where she can continue her recovery closer to her astronaut husband’s work.

The Arizona Democrat has been at University Medical Center (UMC) since Jan. 8, when she was shot during a mass shooting that left six dead and 12 others injured. She will arrive at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital, a facility well known for treatment of brain injuries.

“I’m extremely hopeful that Gabby’s going to make a full recovery,” said Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly. “I am extremely confident she will be … back at work very soon.”

On Friday morning Kelly tweeted: “GG going to next phase of her recover today. Very grateful to the docs and nurses at UMC, Tucson PD, Sheriffs Dept….Back in Tucson ASAP!”

The move “will be easy for her,” UMC trauma chief Peter Rhee said with a smile. “We’ll be doing all the lifting.”

Giffords traveled by ambulance to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base with an escort from a group of motorcycle riders from a Veterans of Foreign Wars post who know her.

From there, she will be moved by helicopter to TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital, a 119-bed facility that is part of the massive Texas Medical Center complex.

Giffords has been able to stand with assistance, scroll through an iPad, identify colors, pick out stuffed animals, and pat Kelly’s face, said UMC chief of neurology Michael Lemole.

Lemole said she moves her lips. He is not sure if she’s trying to speak, but, “these are all fantastic advancements” that “indicate higher cognitive function.”

Giffords’ therapy on Thursday involved exposure to sunlight for the first time since the shooting, Lemole said — first, seated at a window with a view of the Santa Catalina Mountains, then outside to feel the sunshine on her skin.

Experiencing the cycle of daylight and darkness can speed recovery.

(Source: USA Today)