Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has revealed that her first experience smoking weed at Oxford University brought back buried memories of the Taliban assassination attempt that nearly took her life at the age of 15.
In an interview with The Guardian, the 28-year-old activist recalled her first experience smoking a bong. She described it in her upcoming memoir, Finding My Way, stating that it caused intense flashbacks to the 2012 Taliban attack, when she was shot on her way home from school.
Malala said she was persuaded by friends to try a bong during a gathering at Oxford’s Lady Margaret Hall. Soon after inhaling, she was overwhelmed by vivid recollections of the shooting. “I had never felt so close to the attack as then,” she recalled, describing how she momentarily believed she had died and entered the afterlife.
She remembered losing consciousness while trying to return to her dorm room, as her mind replayed the sound of gunfire, images of blood, and the chaos of her rescue. The experience, she said, left her shaken and uncertain about how to move forward.
“I thought nothing could scare me — nothing,” Malala said, reflecting on her struggle. “And then I was scared of small things, and that just broke me.”
With the support of therapy, Malala said she gradually found healing and regained balance in her life.
Now married to Asser Malik, a cricket executive, Malala serves as the executive chair of the Malala Fund, continuing her global campaign for girls’ education and empowerment.