CHAPTER 4: THE ATTACK AND THE LONG
RECOVERY
October 9, 2012. The bullet entered through my left eye socket and
traveled down my neck. I woke up a week later in a hospital in
Birmingham, England. I didn't know where I was or what had
happened. The journey of recovery was long—surgeries, physiotherapy,
and the realization that I would never return to my home in Swat in the
same way again. But the bullet did not kill my ambition; it killed my
fear.
TIMELINE OF ADVOCACY & MILESTONES
1997:
Born in Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan.
2008:
Gives first speech in Peshawar: "How dare the Taliban take away my
basic right to education?"
January 2009:
Begins writing the BBC Urdu blog under the pseudonym
'Gul Makai'.
October 2012:
Targeted and shot by the Taliban while returning from
school.
July 2013:
Addresses the United Nations on her 16th birthday.
October 2014:
Becomes the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace
Prize.
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