The ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leaves University Medical Center behind a police escort as hospital staff wave as she is transferred to Davis-Monthan AFB for a flight to Houston for rehabilitation.
People stand along Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Ariz., as the ambulance carrying U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., passes by on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is being transported to a medical facility in Houston.
Shirley McReynolds, right, and Dortha Bradley, second from right, stand along Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Ariz., as the ambulance carrying U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., passes by on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is being transported to a medical facility in Houston.
Don Nelson, treasurer the Sky Islands Chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, waits outside the hospital to help escort the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from University Medical Center.
Hospital staff and others wave as a convoy of cars follows the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from University Medical Center to Davis-Monthan AFB for a flight to Houston for rehabilitation.
The ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leaves University Medical Center behind a police escort as hospital staff wave as she is transferred to Davis-Monthan AFB for a flight to Houston for rehabilitation.
Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star
People stand along Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Ariz., as the ambulance carrying U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., passes by on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is being transported to a medical facility in Houston.
Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star
Shirley McReynolds, right, and Dortha Bradley, second from right, stand along Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Ariz., as the ambulance carrying U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., passes by on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is being transported to a medical facility in Houston.
Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star
Don Nelson, treasurer the Sky Islands Chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, waits outside the hospital to help escort the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from University Medical Center.
Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star
Hospital staff and others wave as a convoy of cars follows the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from University Medical Center to Davis-Monthan AFB for a flight to Houston for rehabilitation.
Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was sent off by crowds of people from Tucson five years ago today in an ambulance, on her way to a Houston rehab hospital.
Well-wishers started gathering outside D-M and at UMC before 8 a.m. Some made signs and said prayers. It was described as "Tucson at its best," by her spokesman.
She remembered the event in a Facebook post, writing: "Five years ago today I left the hospital in Tucson to start my rehab in Houston. It wasnโt easy, but I never stopped fighting to get better!"
Five years ago today I left the hospital in Tucson to start my rehab in Houston. It wasn’t easy, but I never stopped fighting to get better!
"Inside an ambulance that drove slowly from University Medical Center to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, paramedics rolled down a small window so Giffords could hear the applause of people outside, said her spokesman, C.J. Karamargin. When they did, Giffords smiled and began to tear up, Karamargin said," fromย a story by Andrea Kelly, Carmen Duarte and Rhonda Bodfield in the Arizona Daily Star on Jan. 22, 2011.ย
Giffords was shot in the head Jan. 8, 2011 during a meet-and-greet with constituents in Tucson. The attempted assassination left six people dead and 13 wounded.
The ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leaves University Medical Center behind a police escort as hospital staff wave as she is transferred to Davis-Monthan AFB for a flight to Houston for rehabilitation.
Hospital staff and others wave as a convoy of cars follows the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from University Medical Center to Davis-Monthan AFB for a flight to Houston for rehabilitation.
People stand along Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Ariz., as the ambulance carrying U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., passes by on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is being transported to a medical facility in Houston.
Shirley McReynolds, right, and Dortha Bradley, second from right, stand along Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Ariz., as the ambulance carrying U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., passes by on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is being transported to a medical facility in Houston.
Don Nelson, treasurer the Sky Islands Chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, waits outside the hospital to help escort the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from University Medical Center.
The ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leaves University Medical Center behind a police escort in Tucson, Ariz., to move to Houston for further rehabilitation.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is transferred to Davis-Monthan AFB for a flight to Houston for rehabilitation.
The ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leaves University Medical Center behind a police escort as hospital staff wave as she is transferred to Davis-Monthan AFB for a flight to Houston for rehabilitation.
Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star
Hospital staff and others wave as a convoy of cars follows the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from University Medical Center to Davis-Monthan AFB for a flight to Houston for rehabilitation.
Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star
People stand along Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Ariz., as the ambulance carrying U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., passes by on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is being transported to a medical facility in Houston.
Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star
Shirley McReynolds, right, and Dortha Bradley, second from right, stand along Campbell Avenue in Tucson, Ariz., as the ambulance carrying U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., passes by on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords is being transported to a medical facility in Houston.
Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star
Don Nelson, treasurer the Sky Islands Chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, waits outside the hospital to help escort the ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from University Medical Center.
Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star
The ambulance carrying Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leaves University Medical Center behind a police escort in Tucson, Ariz., to move to Houston for further rehabilitation.
