Mitchell Reports   |  October 15, 2012

Taliban shooting victim flown to UK

Malala Yousufzai, the teen who was shot by the Taliban last week has been flown to a major trauma center in the U.K., while thousands have taken to the streets demanding justice for her. NBC’s Keir Simmons reports.

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>>> the pakistani teen who was attacked and shot by the taliban last week has just arrived at a major trauma center in the uk. since her shooting, thousand as cross pakistan and around the world have taken to the streets demanding justice for malala who was targeted by the taliban because of her work advocating for rights of girls to be educated. our reporter is live in birmingham outside queen elizabeth hospital . bring us up to date on what are doctors telling you about her chances of recovery?

>> reporter: andrea, she got here to the hospital in the last half hour or so. medical staff will be looking at her now. she had that 12 hours in the air, stopping off in abu dhabi on the way here. so she has had a long flight. she now has been taken to the hospital on a very slow journey. paramedics were very careful because of the nature of her injuries. but in the last hour, a hospital spokesperson has come out and given us, if you like, a first read. and he is saying that she does have a real chance of a full recovery. but, you know, managing expectations a little bit as well, i think, by just pointing out that it's likely that it will take weeks, probably months for her to really make that full recovery. it will be a slow process. the damaged bone can be put back together by the surgeons here, but one of the questions, of course, will be how much damage there might have been if blood has been blocked to the brain. that will be a question that they'll be looking at, and it will take some time.

>> keer simmons. this could be a transformative moment. we pray for her survival, but her courage is already being recognized as something that really has already changed pakistan. let's see whether it lasts. keer, thank you very much for your report from birmingham. good to see you.