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Near-fatal injuries inspire Bob Woodruff to help veterans coming home
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CHICAGO — Vision impairment is only one of Bob Woodruff’s lasting sequelae after living through near-fatal injuries from a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq almost 9 years ago.
The effects of traumatic brain injury have been long-lasting since the ABC News journalist was injured, but he has been recovering steadily. He continues to regain language skills lost to aphasia and manage limited field of vision in both eyes.
“It’s been a long, long road,” Woodruff said at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in a special presentation intended to highlight the needs of persons living in the aftermath of traumatic brain injury.
Bob Woodruff
“In the beginning, I couldn’t even see [a Ping-Pong] ball coming at me,” he said. Now he can.
In January 2006, Woodruff and a news crew were embedded with U.S. infantry near Taji when shrapnel, metal, rocks and debris pierced his head and neck, and the percussive effects of the detonation rocked their vehicle.
According to Raymond I. Cho, MD, FACS, director of Oculoplastic and Orbital Surgery Service at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, who was then stationed in Balad where Woodruff was evacuated, the blast waves penetrated the parietal lobe, which damaged Woodruff’s visual pathways.
Since his life-changing experience, Woodruff has embraced the cause of helping returning military personnel. Together with his wife, Woodruff founded the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which supports more than 40,000 organizations that help war veterans returning to their communities.
“We started the foundation early … to get this word out to help [veterans] in every way for when they return to their communities. We have raised about almost $23 million in the past 7 years,” Woodruff said.
Disclosure: Woodruff is a founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. Cho has no relevant financial disclosures.