Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) opened her eyes Wednesday for the first time since being critically wounded in last Saturday’s attack.
The promising occurrence took place shortly after President Obama visited the Representative’s hospital room and in the presence of several members of Congress.
“It felt like we were watching a miracle,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a close friend of Giffords, told reporters aboard Air Force one Wednesday evening.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said that Giffords also raised her arm and tried to reach out for her husband, Mark Kelly.
“She starts reaching out and starts grabbing Mark, and like is touching him, and starts to nearly choke him, she is clearly trying to hug him,” Gillibrand recounted. “It was such a moment, and we were in such tears of joy watching this.”
President Obama invoked the emotional scene during his remarks before a memorial ceremony on the University of Arizona campus.
“She knows we are here,” Obama said. “She knows that we are rooting for her through what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey.”
Last Saturday, a gunman fire on a congressional event outside of a Tucson-based supermarket, leaving Giffords in critical condition and six dead, including a Federal Judge and a nine year old girl.