Flawless Fertitta Flight

Giffords arrives in Houston with "great rehab potential": Doctors won'tspeculate on a return to office

Representative Gabrielle Giffords arrived safety at Houston's Memorial Hermann hospital Friday afternoon, and her new doctors are already optimistic about her rehabilitation potential.

Doctors say Giffords is doing excellent and responding in the top five percent for her injuries — aware of her surroundings and able to communicate with gestures, if not language. Memorial Hermann Dr. John Holcomb noted that her injuries were tangential and "could have been a whole lot worse." Doctors say a C/T scan showed that for her situation her injuries are "minimal."

Doctors described the transfer, including a flight from Tucson on one of Tilman Fertitta's jets, as "flawless," and "well-planned," adding that Giffords spent the ride napping and interacting with her husband Mark Kelly and her mother.

Giffords is currently in the intensive care unit of Memorial Hermann, where she'll be monitored and assessed throughout the weekend. Giffords is expected to remain in the ICU until at least early next week, until doctors feel comfortable removing a fluid drain from her head. Doctors note that there have been no complications so far and that Giffords' is "doing great," but they will be monitoring her for deep vein thrombosis, pneumonia and other infections common after an extended stay in the ICU.

"She looks spectacular from a neurological point of view," said Dr. Dong Kim, the director of the Mischer Neuroscience Institute. "She was alert, awake, calm and comfortable."

Kim reports that Giffords has "very good" movement on her left side, good tone in her legs and sensitivity to light in her eyes, but stated her right side has varying stages of weakness or paralysis, with some movement but not movement on command. Nevertheless Giffords' rehabilitation began in the ICU on Friday afternoon, with physical therapists and occupational therapists ready to work on range of motion and positioning for up to three hours per day according to Dr. Gerard Francisco, the chief medical officer at TIRR Memorial Hermann.

"She has great rehabilitation potential," said Francisco, though he declined to speculate if Giffords would eventually be able to return to her elected office. "She'll keep us busy and we'll keep her busy."

Dr. Randall Friese of Tucson's University Medical Center recalled Giffords' emotional response to hearing applause on the streets of Tucson as she was driven to the airport. "She responded well. She was smiling and even tearing up a little. It was clear she understood what was happening and that the people of Tucson and Arizona were supporting her," he said.

Doctors were careful to caution that while her prognosis is good, Giffords still has a long road ahead.

"We expect her to continue making dramatic progress, but this will be a four- to six-month process regardless," Dr. Kim said.

unspecified

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

undefined

Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”