Lee Woodruff

Lee Woodruff knows that life can change in an instant. When her husband, ABC’s newly appointed “World News Tonight” co-anchor Bob Woodruff, was hit by a roadside bomb while covering the war in Iraq in 2006, she had to learn to put her grief aside to care for her children, as well as her husband. She held their family together, providing the extra support her children needed, as well as providing moral and physical support to her husband during his slow and miraculous recovery from near-death. Bob Woodruff’s injury helped put a face on the serious issues of Traumatic Brain Injury among returning Iraq war veterans—and the world at large.

Bob was in a coma for 36 days, and his skull was shattered. Lee was Bob’s advocate every step of the way during his recovery. She learned how to communicate with the doctors, to question, to seek second opinions, to never be complacent and to check Bob’s medication schedule after hospital shift changes.

Lee says when her husband, Bob, was injured, she didn’t have time to gain the wisdom of all the caregivers who’d come before her. Like most caregivers thrust into this role, she operated from the gut, mostly learning through trial and error, by doing and reacting in the moment. She feels she did certain things right, others could have been done better or differently. Woodruff’s compassion and strength are inspiring.

Anyone who has met a health care crisis head-on, or with a loved one, knows precisely what the term “caregiver” means. And in every case, it is completely inadequate to describe what millions of men and women are doing around the country every day as they minister to the needs of children, spouses, loved ones, parents and partners.

Bob and Lee Woodruff are co-authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller, “In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing.” In writing the book, Lee explains what started as a therapeutic exercise for her—intended at first only for her family—has become something she hopes can inspire and help other families, who will find their own strength to rise to challenges, crises, and tragedies if their lives are upended in an instant.

The Neurological Resource Center is honored to bring Lee Woodruff to our community to share her family’s story. Lee is a dynamic presenter. She speaks with grace and humor about her own family’s experience and how they chose to attack the crisis that befell them, resulting in a life-changing journey of love, healing and miracles for her whole family. She talks about humor and how it helped during the recovery and the bad times for both of them—as victim and as caregiver.
In a Nora Ephron meets Erma Bombeck delivery, Woodruff connects the many commonalities and anecdotes of being a daughter, mother, friend, working woman, and caregiver with her often funny, sometimes poignant and always resilient perspective on life.

Lee Woodruff will provide her 10 tips for caregivers while sharing her own story about being there for her husband during the miraculous recovery from his traumatic brain injury. She will lay out the insightful and often surprising tips for anyone going through a difficult time or the people surrounding them, from what to say and what not to say to what to do, in an engaging and humorous fashion.

Please join us on April 30, at the Three Rivers Convention Center to be inspired and renewed. Lee Woodruff will present a keynote, sign books, and be the Guest of Honor at a VIP Reception. Please see page 8 for additional details. Lee Woodruff’s books In an Instant and Perfectly Imperfect are available in the TNRC library.

Article/Material used with permission of American Program Bureau, Inc. Edited by Linda Boothe and Karen Hayes.

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