“We all cried a little bit ...but out of happiness’’, said Malala Yousafzai’s father after an emotional reunion with his daughter at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth hospital as he spoke about her “miraculous’’ survival after being shot by a Taliban gunman in Pakistan two weeks ago.
Ziauddin Yousafzai, along with Malala’s mother Toorpekai and brothers Khushal and Atal Khan, went straight to the hospital after they arrived on Thursday.
He said it was a miracle’’ that she had survived. Recalling the moment when he first saw her after the attack, he said her condition was so serious that he was told to make preparations for her funeral.
“She got the right treatment, at the right place, at the right time. She is recovering at an encouraging speed and we are very happy,” he said.
A smiling Mr. Yousafzai told reporters that Malala was concerned about the other two girls who were also injured in the attack.
“She asked her mother how Shazia and Kainaat were,” he said.
Praising her courage and determination, he said when she got to know that he was coming she told him, “Please bring my books of class nine. I’ll attend my exams in Swat.”
He was confident that she would make a full recovery.
“The person who attacked her, they wanted to kill her. But I will simply say that she fell temporarily. She will rise again. She will stand again and she can stand now. But when she fell, Pakistan stood,” he said.
The teenage schoolgirl suffered serious skull injuries and Doctors treating her said that part of her skull would need to be reconstructed.
Mr. Yousafzai said it had been difficult not being with her.
“When we met her there were tears in our eyes out of happiness. We all cried a little bit,” he said.
Dismissing rumours that the family planned to seek asylum in Britain, he said her daughter would return to Pakistan. He said people across the world had condemned the attack on Malala and “prayed for her”.
“She is not only my daughter but daughter of everyone and sister of everyone,” he said.
