Delahunt 'Stunned' By Giffords Shooting
BOSTON (CBS/AP) - Doctors say they are optimistic about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' odds.
But they also add it can take months to learn the level of brain damage she might suffer from the gunshot to the head she took Saturday.
Surgeons said the bullet traveled the length of the left side of her brain, from back to front. That offers a better outlook than if it had hit both sides.
Former Massachusetts Congressman Bill Delahunt told WBZ-TV Sunday he was in an airport when he heard his friend and former colleague on the House Foreign Affairs Committee had been shot.
"I was just stunned, it was unbelievable and I was incredulous," he said.
"I had the opportunity to observe her and watch her mature and develop into an outstanding member, not just to the committee, but the House."
"It's not hyperbole to say that she really is a rising star and, God willing, she will be back."
Giffords is in a medically induced coma.
"If you do not let the people's representatives be assured of their personal safety then we all lose," Delahunt said. "It isn't just the tragic deaths of those six people, it's a lot more."
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