For Bob ’83 and Lee ’82 Woodruff, the Colgate connection was a reassuring constant in the turbulence that consumed their lives after Bob was gravely injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq just weeks after being named anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight.
In the latest episode of the Colgate Conversations podcast series, the Woodruffs talk about how friends they made at Colgate some 25 years earlier were so helpful after their lives were utterly changed when Bob suffered a traumatic brain injury on Jan. 29, 2006, while reporting on the war.
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| The Woodruffs delivered this year's commencement address at Colgate. (Photo by Tim O'Keeffe) |
But it was not just their close Colgate friends who made a big difference, said Lee Woodruff.
“What I was so amazed by when Bob was injured was just the support and strength we felt from the Colgate community at large, from people we had never met who were decades apart from us,” she said. “It meant a lot; it made a difference.”
The Woodruffs sat down for the 20-minute podcast interview while on campus for Colgate’s commencement weekend (May 19-20), where they jointly delivered the commencement address.
In the interview, they talk about the process of writing their bestselling book – In An Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing, Bob’s recent reporting from Cuba and his continued love of journalism, the impact their ABC documentary had on elevating the issue of veterans care, and the ups and downs of Bob’s arduous road to recovery.
The Woodruffs stay in touch with the injured vets and their families who appeared in the emotional hourlong documentary, which aired in February.
Bob Woodruff spoke strongly about giving veterans with traumatic brain injuries the best care available, which in some cases might mean sending them to private hospitals instead of regional veterans administration hospitals that don’t have the same capabilities.
The couple established the Bob Woodruff Family Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury to help vets get the care they need for as long as they need it.
Bob Woodruff talks about his memories of the day when an improvised explosive device about 12 miles outside Baghdad sent shrapnel, rocks and dirt flying into him, severely injuring the left frontal lobe of his brain. Doctors had to remove 14 centimeters of his skull. He spent five weeks in an induced coma and would undergo months of difficult therapy to relearn basic tasks.
Through the past 18 months, the couple said they received incredible support from their families and their friends, including those from Colgate.
“At Colgate for some reason, even more than so many other schools that I know, you remain good, close friends,” said Bob Woodruff.
To hear the complete conversation with the Woodruffs, go here or see the Colgate Conversations page or iTunes page for download options.
Tim O'Keeffe
Office of Public Relations and Communications
315.228.6634
