(CNN) -- Hospitalized and at times unconscious and breathing through a tube, Pakistani teen activist Malala Yousufzai has been without her parents for days. On Thursday, that's expected to change when she's reunited with her father and mother at a British hospital.
The 15-year-old, an international symbol of courage after the Taliban shot her for demanding education for girls, is being treated for a head wound in Birmingham, England.
Her father, Ziauddin Yousufzai, has been a central influence for Malala. He ran a school in Pakistan's conservative Swat Valley that kept its doors open to girls -- in defiance of the Taliban.
This will be his first chance to be by Malala's bedside since she was flown from Pakistan 10 days ago.
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Both of the girl's parents flew from Pakistan and arrived in England on Thursday.
Malala has been unable to speak because a tube has been inserted into her trachea to protect her airway, which was swollen after her gunshot injury, Seeing her parents again will surely be a comfort.
"I am leaving this country with a heavy heart and in extraordinary circumstances because the whole country knows that it is essential that I be with my daughter during her recovery," he told Pakistani network PTV before leaving Islamabad, in his first public remarks since the October 9 shooting.
"With the nation's prayers she survived the attack and she will surely recover and her health will progress. And God willing, as soon as she is recovered I will be back in Pakistan."
Khushal Khan, Malala's younger brother, echoed his call for the nation to rally behind his shot sister. "I want to tell all my friends to pray for Malala," he said.
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Malala has been thinking about school even while she lies in her hospital bed, Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters after meeting with her family -- she has asked her father to bring her school books with him.
"The mission she has taken forward and the education awareness that has spread across Pakistan is all Malala's doing," he said, according to PTV. "So I think that our entire nation should be proud of her love for the soil of her country."
After Malala recovers and returns, he said, "we will provide her with complete security despite anyone's refusal to ensure that something like this never happens again. The attack on Malala was a mindset of people who don't want to see this country progress."
The president of Pakistan has spoken with Ziauddin Yousufzai personally and asked him to stay in Britain as long as necessary while his daughter gets better, Rehman Malik added.
Malala has been communicating with medical staff by writing notes since coming around on Tuesday last week, but she still faces a long road to recovery.
Meanwhile, her parents have had to cope with being separated from their daughter at her moment of greatest need, while at the same time fearing possible reprisal attacks against the family from the Taliban.
Happily, the hospital reports have become steadily more positive as the days have ticked on.
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As of Wednesday, Malala remained in stable condition and "continues to make good progress," the hospital's website said.
However, she is expected to need "a significant period of rest and recuperation" before undergoing reconstructive surgery, Dr. Dave Rosser, medical director of University Hospitals Birmingham, said last week. That surgery could involve reinserting a piece of her own skull or fitting a titanium plate.
Malala was fighting an infection, but was able to move her extremities and has stood with help from nurses, the hospital said.
Although the bullet grazed her brain as it passed from above her eye down into her shoulder, she seems to be functioning well intellectually and understands where she is.
In a promising sign, she was well enough to ask for a message of thanks to be passed on to the many thousands of people in Pakistan and elsewhere who have flocked to rallies and vigils honoring her courage, and praying for her recovery.
The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the shooting, but they don't appear to have anticipated the level of revulsion and condemnation it would provoke.
Malala began gaining international attention in 2009 as the Taliban gained a foothold in her home region of Swat, a Taliban-heavy valley in northwest Pakistan not far from the border with Afghanistan.
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On her blog, she often wrote about her life in Swat Valley in northwestern Pakistan, a hotbed of militant activity where girls schools were shuttered and strict Islamist rules imposed.
Her writing earned her Pakistan's first National Peace Prize, and she also encouraged young people to take a stand against the Taliban -- and to not hide in their bedrooms.
Pakistani police said Wednesday that six men have been arrested in Swat in connection with Malala's shooting but the main suspect remained at large.
Police identified Atta Ullah Khan, a 23-year-old man from the district where she was attacked, as the primary suspect. Police said they were searching for Khan, who was studying for a master's degree in chemistry.
CNN's Jonathan Wald and Shaan Khan contributed to this report.
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