Malala Yousafzai: Being shot by Taliban made me stronger

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, told an audience at the United Nations that her brush with death had only made her more determined.

“Dear friends, on the 9th of October, 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends too,” she said in her first major public appearance. “They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed.”

Speaking on her 16th birthday, she said the "terrorists thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this -- weakness, fear and hopelessness died, strength, power and courage was born."

I am the same Malala, my ambitions are the same, my hopes are the same and my dreams are the same.”

Introducing Malala to a Youth Assembly of nearly 1,000 students from around the world, former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that it was a “miracle” that she was able to be there.

"Let me say the words the Taliban never wanted you to hear -- happy 16th birthday Malala," said Brown, now the U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education.

More at: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/12/19432997-malala-yousafzai-being-shot-by-taliban-made-me-stronger?lite