WP: Wounded (ABC) Newsmen Show Slow Recovery (info from Brokaw)

Wounded Newsmen Show Slow Recovery
ABC Likely to Use Substitutes for Anchor
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 31, 2006; Page C01


ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and his cameraman showed "slow improvement" yesterday at a U.S. military hospital in Germany and remain in serious but stable condition after sustaining head injuries from a roadside bomb in Iraq, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Woodruff and Doug Vogt showed "early signs of reaction" in response to neurological tests at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, said hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw. Col. Bryan Gamble, the hospital's commander, said both men would have been killed had they not been wearing body armor....

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On the "Today" show, former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw said he had spoken to Woodruff's wife, Lee, about the bomb that exploded while her husband and Vogt were standing in the back hatch of an Iraqi military vehicle to tape a report. The vehicle then came under hostile fire from three directions.

Immediately after the blast, Woodruff asked a colleague, "Am I alive?" and then said, "Don't tell Lee." Brokaw said Woodruff "began to cry out in excruciating pain" but was able to walk to a helicopter for medical evacuation.

Doctors were able to reduce Woodruff's brain swelling by removing part of his skullcap but "don't know for sure whether shrapnel penetrated the brain," Brokaw said. He said Woodruff had also suffered a broken collarbone and broken ribs. Both journalists are under heavy sedation, hospital officials said...

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