Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani teen whose defiance of the Taliban almost cost her her life, is in the final stretch of recovery.

The 15-year-old was nearly killed when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head and neck last October on her way home from school. Islamists wanted her dead after she advocated giving girls access to education.

In the coming days British doctors will place a titanium plate in Yousafzai's skull. She'll also get an inner ear implant.

"She's very lively; she's got a great sense of humor," Dr. Dave Rosser, with Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, told journalists. 

"She's not naive at all about what happened to her and the situation she's looking forward to in terms of being a high-profile person, and potentially a high-profile target. She's not naive to any of that," Rosser continued.

"But she remains incredibly determined, incredibly cheerful and incredibly determined to speak for her cause," he said.

It's unclear whether or not Yousufzai will return to Pakistan. Rosser did say it would take a year to 18 months for her to fully recuperate.