Former Rep. Gabby Giffords skydives to mark anniversary of shooting

Thanks for the good luck call @VP @JoeBiden. Join me next time? pic.twitter.com/XmcZvDkYZC

— Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) January 8, 2014

Former Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords made a literal jump in her recovery to mark three years since the shooting in which she was seriously wounded.

A jump out of a plane.

Followed by a crew from the TODAY show Wednesday, Giffords went skydiving — a pasttime she used to enjoy before her injury — claiming it as the latest step in what has been a long road to recuperation.

“It’s been step by step since I was shot three years ago,” Giffords wrote on Facebook. “I’ve overcome a lot. Progress has come from working hard. Today, I grieve, I remember, and I take another step. I’m stronger now. I’m winning back movement in my right arm. So I have the opportunity to do something I love: skydiving with my friend, former Navy SEAL Jimmy Hatch. Southern Arizona will look beautiful, peaceful from the top of the sky.”

Giffords was shot alongside 18 other victims in a January 8, 2011 shooting during a meeting in a supermarket parking lot in Tucson, Ariz. Six people were killed in the attack. Giffords resigned from Congress in January 2012 to focus on her recovery.