Chapter 21

Ziauddin learns the news of Malala’s shooting just as he is about to give a speech to an association of approximately 400 principals and is devastated. He is compelled to continue but leaves for the hospital directly after. Madam Maryam also attends and gleans from the doctors that the bullet has gone through Malala’s forehead, and not her brain, while one of the other girls had received a bullet through the collarbone and palm, and the third girl had her arm grazed by a bullet. Malala is airlifted to a military hospital in Peshawar, with her father and Madam Maryam accompanying her. Malala’s mother receives conflicting stories on the shooting and does not know what is going on until Ziauddin’s friend phones her with accurate details and the advice that she should come by road.

In the hospital’s intensive care unit, the neurosurgeon speaks with Malala’s father and explains that the bullet has lodged itself in Malala’s left shoulder blade. Ziauddin becomes concerned with the surgeon’s decision not to operate. Many supporters arrive to the hospital and wait outside. Malala’s mother and Atal arrive, Khushal is still away at school. Because Malala’s brain is swelling, it is decided that part of her skull should be removed and placed in her stomach to preserve it for reattachment later. The bullet is also removed from Malala’s shoulder. By the next morning, Malala has begun moving her arms and is put into an induced coma so as to not to place pressure on her brain.

The Taliban issue a statement assuming responsibility. Malala’s story has gone around the world with calls that she should be taken abroad for treatment.

Chapter 21 Quotes

All children are special to their parents, but to my father I was his universe. I had been his comrade in arms for so long, first secretly as Gul Makai, then quite openly as Malala. (after Malala is shot) Chapter 21

‘God, I entrust her to You’… (Tor Pekai) Chapter 21

While I was hovering between life and death, the Taliban issued a statement assuming responsibility for shooting me but denying it was because of my campaign for education. Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Malala’s condition deteriorates and Ziauddin begins to lose hope, relying on the physical reports. But Malala’s mother is certain her daughter will survive and continues to pray, relying on her spirituality. Malala is flown to an army hospital in Rawalpindi then, subsequently, to Birmingham England, being closely monitored inflight by an experienced British paediatric surgeon, Dr Fiona, to whom Ziauddin had signed legal guardianship. Malala’s family remains in Pakistan in order to arrange the travel documentation which will allow them to join Malala in the UK.

Chapter 22 Quotes

‘If anything had happened to her it would have been blamed on the white woman,’ she said afterwards. ‘If she’d died I would have killed Pakistan’s
Mother Teresa.’ (Dr Fiona) Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Malala wakes up alone in the Birmingham Hospital to nurses and doctors all around her, and has difficulty communicating. It will be more than two weeks before Malala is reunited with her family. In that time, Malala is cared for by hospital staff including Dr Fiona, an Urdu-speaking doctor and a kind, Muslim female chaplain. Malala is comforted to hear her father’s voice by phone but is unable to yet speak herself. She has trouble writing and remembering words and is distrusting of any information she is provided. Malala receives visits from government ministers, diplomats and politicians, 8,000 cards, Facebook messages from well-known personalities such as Beyonce and Angelina Jolie as well as the prayerful support of millions. Malala does not yet realise she will not be returning to Pakistan.

Chapter 23 Quotes

… I didn’t even think a single bad thought about the man who shot me – I had no thoughts of revenge – I just wanted to go back to Swat. I wanted to go home. Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Malala’s family arrives in Birmingham to an emotional reunion with their daughter. Ziauddin laments that the injury has affected Malala’s smile.

The identify of Malala’s attacker is revealed and although he is arrested, he is released shortly after.

The UN announces November 10 as Malala Day.

Malala continues her recovery and rehabilitation, and receives a visit from the President of Pakistan, who is paying her hospital bill. Malala later receives surgery to help with the damage to her facial nerve and a cochlear implant to improve the hearing in her left ear.

Chapter 24 Quotes

‘…The Taliban are very cruel – they have snatched her smile,’ he added. ‘You can give someone eyes or lungs but you cannot restore their smile.’ (Ziauddin) Chapter 24

Epilogue

At the end of the book the family have moved into a rented house in Birmingham where life feels like ‘camping’ to Malala. The family misses the Swat Valley and Malala and her mother, especially, miss the social circles they have left behind. Ziauddin attends conferences and continues to advocate for universal education, and the family travels to New York where Malala speaks before the UN. Tor Pekai is so proud of her daughter she allows herself to be photographed for the first time. The story ends with Malala wondering whether she will ever return to Pakistan but knowing she will nonetheless continue to fight for the right of girls to an education.

Epilogue Quotes

I used to be known as his daughter; now he’s known as my father. Epilogue

‘Let us pick up our books and our pens,’ I said. ‘They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.’ (Malala to the UN) Epilogue