Giffords Remains in Critical Care

Reports that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords woke up and recognized her husband after Saturday’s shooting turn out to have been incorrect. “She did not wake up,” said a spokeswoman at the hospital where she is staying. “She’s not talking to anybody.” Several news outlets, including The Daily Beast, had reported that she briefly regained consciousness. Doctors say Giffords was shot in "the best place you can be shot" since the bullet did not cross the centerline of the brain. A University Medical Center spokesperson said the Democratic representative is under heavy sedation and has undergone a CAT scan but remains in critical condition. The head of trauma at the University of Arizona's medical center, where Giffords underwent surgery, said he’s “ very optimistic” about her chances. But her chances depend on where exactly she was shot and on how fast the bullet was traveling. According to Robert Granacher, Jr., a neuropsychiatrist at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, “There’s a distinct possibility that she will not be able to function as a congresswoman,” and her doctors won’t know for sure until six to 18 months after surgery.