LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "Both operations were a success and Malala is now recovering in hospital. Her medical team is 'very pleased' with the progress she has made so far," the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham said in a statement. "She is awake and talking to staff and members of her family."

After grueling five-hour surgeries this past weekend, it was all part of a long road back to recovery for Malala. She was shot in the head and neck by Taliban gunmen last October for writing a BlogSpot promoting education for Pakistani girls and women.

Doctors said last week, doctors said that they would use a titanium plate to cover an opening in her skull, and give her a cochlear implant to partially restore hearing in her left ear.

The plate was deemed necessary to replace a section of her skull, about the size of a hand. Doctors removed the bone in order to relieve swelling after the shooting. The inner ear implant in addition, will restore some function to her damaged ear, doctors said.

Becoming an international symbol of courage and women's education, Malala paid a very high price for her crusade about girls going to school. Blogging fearlessly about girls' education, she accused her local chapter of the Taliban of thriving upon ignorance. The Taliban forbids girls in schools and have threatened to kill anyone who defies them.

Malala was in a school van on October 9 when the gunmen stopped the vehicle and shot her at point-blank range and was flown to a hospital in the United Kingdom six days later.

Doctors there discharged her last month, and she has been recovering with her family at a temporary home nearby. Her father, an educator in Pakistan, is now employed at the Pakistani Consulate in Birmingham, England. Officials said Malala would remain hospitalized until she is well enough to be discharged.

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