Official portrait of United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords (United States Congress)

On Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, Gabrielle Giffords officialy resigned from being a member of the House after a little more than a year from being shot in the head at close range.

On Jan. 8, 2011, U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head by 22 year old Jared Lee Loughner, along with eighteen other people during a public meeting at a grocery store in Casas Adobe, near Tucson, Arizona. Six of the eightteen who were shot died, including Arizona District Court Chief Judge John Roll.

Giffords went through intense rehabilitation treatments Asheville, North Carolina with the suport of family and the rest of the nation.

According to abcnews.go.com, Giffords wrote in her letter of resignation, “This past year my colleagues and staff have worked to make sure my constituents were represented in Congress but If I can’t return, my district deserves to elect a U.S. Representative who can give 100 percent to the job now.”

Giffords also stated, “I will recover and will return, and we will work together again, for Arizona and for all Americans.”