Malala Yousafzai Reveals How She Collapsed After Smoking Bong At Oxford, Says ‘I Had Never Felt So…’

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has opened up about a shocking experience at Oxford University that brought back memories of the Taliban assassination attempt she survived as a teenager in Pakistan.

Malala, 28, who is known worldwide for her work promoting girls’ education, was just 15 when a masked Taliban gunman shot her while she was travelling on a school bus in Swat Valley. She suffered serious injuries, including a lacerated facial nerve, a broken jaw, and a shattered eardrum. She spent months in critical care before being flown to the UK for specialised treatment.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Malala revealed that smoking a bong for the first time at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, unexpectedly triggered long-suppressed memories of that attack. She described the experience as reliving the trauma of her childhood under Taliban rule. “I had never felt so close to the attack as then, in that moment,” she said. “I felt like I was reliving all of it, and there was a time when I just thought I was in the afterlife.”

Malala recounted how she tried to walk back to her room after smoking, only to black out and be carried by a friend. Her mind replayed the day she was shot, the gun, the blood, and being rushed through crowds to an ambulance. The incident caused severe anxiety and panic attacks. “I’m the girl who was shot … I’m supposed to be a brave girl,” she said. “Until I couldn’t pretend any longer. I’d be sweating and shaking, and I could hear my heartbeat. Then I started getting panic attacks.”

With help from a therapist, Malala gradually processed the flashbacks and her intense emotions. She realised the combination of exam stress and childhood trauma had overwhelmed her, according to the report.

She said, “I survived an attack, and nothing happened to me, and I laughed it off. I thought nothing could scare me, nothing. My heart was so strong. And then I was scared of small things, and that just broke me. But, you know, in this journey I realised what it means to be actually brave. When you can not only fight the real threats out there, but fight within.”