In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing

by Bob Woodruff and Lee Woodruff

Book Overview

In January 2006, Lee and Bob Woodruff seemed to have it all-a happy marriage, four beautiful children, and marvelous careers. Bob had just been named co-anchor of ABC's World News Tonight , but then,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812978250
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.9" x 0.7" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Heart Warming!

This is an amazing story of love, courage, and recovery. As the conflict between the Shias and Sunnis rages in Iraq and multitude of men and women lose everything or almost everything in an instant, Bob and Lee show us that there is hope. Lee's courage to deal with the new realities of a husband injured, in comma, and possibility of a lifetime pain and suffering is truly inspiring. Their love for each other and Bob's perseverance and hard work to get his old self back gives us all encouragement to not to give up in the face of insurmountable odds.

Realistic and inspiring, how one family was tested by great adversity

I became interested in this book, after hearing Bob and his wife speak about the experience on a television show. I found their down to earth and honest testimony about their experience in the wake of a tragedy to be both inspiring and moving, especially since Bob refused to center only on HIS experience but connected it to those still in Iraq, facing great dangers today. Taking it beyond his own experience, he discusses how many have suffered equally severe (or worse) injuries than he did. He speaks about what can be done to help them. In Woodruff's case, his work as a television journalist was shattered when, while covering the Iraq war, an explosive device went off, greatly damaging his brain, leaving questions about whether he'd ever be able to live - let alone function as a father, husband or employee - ever again. He went through a slow recovery, one faced with so many unknowns. Listening to both husband and wife on television, it was clear that Woodruff has come a long, long way (he jokingly noted how he'd just learned to say "belt buckle" again) but, underneath the banter, it was clear just how arduous and emotionally difficult a struggle this has been. And yet, in spite of it all, the family managed to handle it with humor, resiliance and a great deal of hope and faith. The whole family rose to the challenge, with the kids helping their father regain his abilities, with courage and an upbeat attitude (as often as possible). They'd use flash cards to help him relearn words -or simply say word and phrases until he repeated them successfully, giving him a high five when he did. The book doesn't just focus on the present but is a memoir of the Woodruff's history, from first meeting to the births of their children. They seemed to have it all and sometimes it can be difficult for those who feel blessed to deal with adversity...but not in this case. This is an inspiring and heartfelt memoir, worth reading for anyone who wonders how to cope with great difficulties in life - or for anyone facing challenges right now.

This Book Makes You Feel Good About Being a Human Being

It is spiritually uplifting to see beautiful people behave in a beautiful way. Bob Woodruff's wife, Lee, in trying to assess what is now possible after her husband's terrible brain injury asks the doctor, "But will he still love me?" It is a moment of substance in a world where image too often passes for it. This is more than a book of recovery. Bob Woodruff's setback in life seems to be more than that. It seems to have widened his horizons and connected him to his fellow man in ways that he says he could not previously have imagined. Many people think that happiness is somehow caused by circumstances other than their own thinking. This is not true. Lottery winners, plucked from otherwise disastrous fates by Lady Luck, seldom maintain their new sense of well-being. And normal people, overwhelmed with sudden and unexpected tragedy, can regain their inner happiness despite grievous losses. I am a board-certified cognitive behavioral therapist specializing in depression. I have seen many different reactions to tragedy among those coming to my office seeking help. When you see someone calmly accept what fate has just handed them, when you watch them immediately seek to make something worthwhile out of their new day instead of vainly looking back and wishing for their former life, when you notice how they steadfastly refuse to entertain a negative option, you can't help but be elevated right along with them. They inspire you to hope that when your own turn to suffer comes along, perhaps you too can prevail as these heroes who have gone ahead to show the way. This is not a book about recovery, this is a book about trancendence. A. B. Curtiss, author of BRAINSWITCH OUT OF DEPRESSION

'Will He Still Love Me?"

Lee Woodruff questions her husband's physician " Will he still love me?" Yes, his phyiscian answers. I have not had a patient who didn't love the people he loved before." 'In An Instant' is more than a poignant review of the year in the life of Lee and Bob Woodruff. This book is a reflection of their thoughts, prayers, experiences and day to day life. Bob Woodruff, ABC journalist, was in Iraq to report on the war and was critically injured. Half of his brain, the left half was inujred and that portion of his skull was removed to decrease the swelling. He was operated on at once and flown to Germany to be stabilized and then to Bethesda, Maryland with his critical brain injury. It took 5 weeks of constant care and love by his family and medical team before he awoke. Lee tells us about her struggles and the family issues and the constant anxiety of watching her husband fight for his life. At one point at the end of the five weeks, Lee got into bed with Bob amidst his tubes and lines and told him he needed to fight, they needed him. Two days later she walked into the Intensive Care Unit,and he was sitting up in bed, and said, "Sweetie, Where ya been?" From that time the fight began in earnest for Bob who had suffered a traumatic brain injury to renew his life. Lee Woodruff, the real hero of the story, gives us an honest, compelling look at what life was like for her. Trying to find time for four children, her husband who was crtically ill, and then recovering and balancing what she needed to do to keep her body and soul together. She talks often of the other families she met, the Iraq and Afghanistan war wounded. When Bob finally did wake up and his rehab and recovery began in earnest,life became busier and she had to become more resilient. Bob Woodruff during his rehabilitation became involved in the lives of other men and women who had suffered as he did. He will continue to follow the TBI (traumatic brain injured) soldiers and attempt to assist in whatever manner he can. After his recovery he needed to go through more surgery to replace the piece of skull on the left side of his head. Today he looks as he did before his injury. He has had a remarkable recovery. He still has times when he cannot remember some words. He and Lee visited the Intensive Care Unit at Bethesda to thank his caregiving team. Everyone was overwhelmed. Bob was only the fifth person out of hundreds who had recovered enough to come back and visit. Lee tells an amazing story about Bruce Springsteen and Bob. Bob loves Bruce Springsteen and has his music playing full blast at all times. The day Lee climbed into bed with Bob she told him that if he got better Bruce Springsteen would come and play for him. A few days after Bob woke up he stood up and said "I gotta get one of those string things, a guitar. So I can play with Bruce when he comes.". Oh, oh, Lee thought, Bruce is not coming, but how did Bob hear this?" It is said that people in comas can register voices, and w

Absolutely fabulous book on terrifying topic, but filled with love and hope

In An Instant is a poignant and powerful book of love, of war, of hope, of recovery and of life. It is truly hard to find an accolade this book does not deserve. It is about Bob Woodruff and and his awful injury while covering the Iraqi war, a month after being promoted to co-anchor replacing Peter Jennings. A man at the apex of his career, who loves doing what he does, a noted world traveler and correspondent and, In An Instant, his and his family's life is quite literally blown to pieces. But it is also book very much about Lee and Bob's marriage, from their first date, and one that would have been worth reading even without the trauma suffered covering the war. Lee writes wonderfully about the career risks Bob made, and she lovingly supported, as he went from a lucrative law career to pursue his passion that he developed for journalism and the rush of covering news events, large and small. Tiananmen Square to a train wreck in Northern California. This wonderfully written book was done with his wife, Lee, clearly a very capable writer herself and mother of their four children. The construction on the book is cleverly done with its movement back and forth in time, but never confusing to the reader and always done to develop a point or complete a story. Written collaberatively, it is part Lee, descriptive and emotional, holding a family together and, part Bob, ever the facts based journalist. What began as a journal being kept by Lee for Bob, knowing he would want to know what happened while he was in a coma, became this book, appropriately subtitled, "A Family's Journey of Love and Healing". The recovery of Mr. Woodruff is clearly nothing short of miraculous in an age where we don't believe in miracles. But the strength of his entire family, centered around his wife Lee and his four children, and his own desire to live for these many wonderful reasons is very clear. This book is nothing sappy but clearly heartwarming and, at times, very scary as no one can read it and not wonder how quickly their own lives can change, even without putting oneself in the dangerous situations our journalists do every day in these war ravaged countries. Readers will start thinking they know and like Bob Woodruff. They will come away loving his family, especially his wife, and very capable writer, Lee.