She called Malala her sister.

What's next for Malala?

After regaining strength, Malala is now set to endure more surgery. Doctors at Queen Elizabeth hospital will replace the piece of skull extracted in Pakistan. Her lead doctor, Dr. Rosser, "does not envisage any difficulties" in a pair of operations to repair her skull or fix the hearing in her left ear, he said Wednesday.

Malala is no stranger to recognition, and her ordeal has boosted it to global proportions.

She has penned her online diary in cooperation with the BBC in the past, and has spoken to other media, including CNN. At home, her writings led to her being awarded Pakistan's first National Peace Prize in late 2011.

From her hospital room in the UK, Malala asked early on for her school books, so she could study for exams she wants to take when she arrives back home in Pakistan.

She is all about education.