Mornings are hectic around our house so it is virtually unheard of for me to make an a.m. date with the television. But, tomorrow I will be making an exception. I am anxious to see ABC newsman Bob Woodruff’s return to television.
I have been following Woodruff’s recovery for months. In January, the former “World News Tonight” anchor and his photographer Doug Vogt were standing in the hatch of an Iraqi mechanized vehicle, reporting on the war from the Iraqi troops’ perspective, when a roadside bomb exploded and tore off part of Woodruff’s skull.
Now, more than a year after death knocked on his door, Woodruff is sitting down with Diane Sawyer on “Good Morning America” Tuesday to speak about his journey back from “hell.” The interview is a precursor to tomorrow night’s prime-time special, “To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports,” which details Woodruff’s recovery and the plight of other brain-injured Iraq veterans. It will also preview a book he co-wrote with wife Lee about his road to recovery, which also goes on sale Tuesday.
Okay, so the interview is not without its promotional value, but that won’t deter me from watching. I want to see and hear how this man recovered after being so close to death. I want to know how much he remembers from the attack and what it was like to have to relearn his own name.
According to Woodruff’s doctors, upon emerging from a 36-day coma following the blast, the journalist “couldn’t name any of the 50 states or even recall his twin, 6-year-old daughters – not just their names but their very existence.”
During a news conference today to promote his primetime special, Woodruff told reporters that on his 28th day as “World News Tonight” co-anchor, a rock the size of a silver dollar punctured his neck and lodged just next to a vital artery. He slipped into a coma and no one knew if he would emerge.
Woodruff said that part of the TV special illustrates the toll his medical crisis took on his family (he has a wife and four young children). A clip from the program shows his wife explaining that during visits to see her husband in the hospital she’d steer their children to the side of the room where his injuries looked less severe.
The interview with Woodruff will air on tomorrow’s “Good Morning America,” then he will appear on The Oprah Winfrey show later in the day.
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