Book Reviews In An Instant
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In An Instant |
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Written by Lee and Bob Woodruff Published in 2007, In An Instant intertwines a couple’s love story with a family’s story of coming face-to-face with the challenges of brain injury. Journalist Bob Woodruff, and PR executive/freelance writer, Lee Woodruff, his wife, co-wrote the book after Bob was brain-injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006. Woodruff’s traumatic brain injury made front-page news in 2006Shortly after being named co-anchor of ABC’s World News, Bob was embedded with the military in Iraq. A roadside bomb went off near the tank he was in and severely injured him, other journalists and an Iraqi soldier. Bob’s traumatic brain injury was critical, and it looked as if he might die. The military quickly transported him out of the battle zone to Germany. Meanwhile, ABC notified Lee before broadcasting the story. She rushed to tell family members, find someone to care for their children, and get on a plane to Germany without knowing if Bob would still be alive when she got there. For many brain injury families, these events may sound very familiar and Lee successfully captures the panic—and shock—that brain injury families know well. “You never know how you would behave in a crisis,” she writes, “until it drops out of the sky and knocks you down like a bandit: stealing your future, robbing you of your dreams, and mocking anything that resembles certainty.” That’s as good a description of what happens to the family when a loved one is brain injured as you can find. The Woodruffs’ book focuses on the beginning of their struggle, from the shock to the denial to the chaos. We follow Bob’s progress from coma to rehab, artfully intertwined with stories of the Woodruffs’ courtship and marriage, their careers, and their family life. Their story has inspired many people who were unaware of brain injury’s consequences, and has helped others understand more about the struggle of dealing with brain injury in the family. By exposing the nation to brain injury’s consequences, they have perhaps shone a light on what still needs to be done to help brain injury families succeed. If you are a brain injury family member, however, you may feel yourself wishing for more than this book provides. It is an inspiring read, but may leave you wishing your family could have had the resources that the Woodruffs had at their disposal and wondering what, if any, difference that would have made to your own family. Sensitive to that disparity, the Woodruffs have made it their mission to help brain-injured soldiers receive the kind of care that Bob was able to get through the Bob Woodruff Foundation. Combined with In an Instant, they have made a tremendous contribution to the brain injury cause. Author Web sites: Lee and Bob Woodruffwww.leewoodruff.com Reviewer byline: Marilyn ColterMarilyn Colter is the author of Missing Pieces: Mending the Head Injury Family. Her husband suffered a brain injury in 1982 during surgery to repair a brain aneurysm. She and her family founded the Brain Injury Family Resources web site at www.braininjuryfamily.net Where to buy In An Instant onlineTattered Cover Want to check out In An Instant from your library?Search for the book in a library near you at WorldCat |
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