Traumatic Brain Injury: Woodruff Speaks about Stigma of Brain Injuries

Bob Woodruff says he did not know the meaning of the term "traumatic brain injury" until he had one. Woodruff was covering news in Iraq when an improvised bomb exploded 20 feet from him television crew. When he awoke after a 36-day medically induced coma, his speech barely made sense.

ABC Newsman Speaks in Colonie of the Stigma of Brain Injuries

Part of Woodruff's skull had to be removed to allow his brain to swell. Woodruff shows few outward signs of his injury, but says he struggles to remember friends' names, words, and city names from where he is reporting. Woodruff has drawn considerable attention to traumatic brain injury. ABC aired a documentary about Woodruff's recovery and his subsequent efforts to draw attention to the struggles faced by Iraq veterans with brain injuries. "In the beginning I heard that recovery is usually one-and-half-years to two years and then it's pretty much over," Woodruff said about his recovery. "That's a bunch of bull ..."