By Lee and Bob Woodruff
Review by Angela Hutchinson
SpiritWorks.net
I’m not really sure how to go about writing this review. I was so caught up in reading In an Instant that I failed to mark passages, quotes, or pen marginal notes. I have been reviewing books for the last five years and I have never forgotten my faithful highlighter. But somehow, I was pulled deeply into the Woodruff’s story. I wanted to understand the journey so much so that I could not allow the highlighter to slow me down. This is a journey of family strength, relationship strengthening, and individual power that cannot be fully expressed.
Though we all wish to avoid tragedy, when looking back, it always seems to be those life experiences that get our attention and begin shifting our lives as we live them. Bob Woodruff, a popular field reporter and newly named ABC news anchor, was at the top of his game when tragedy struck. “In an instant,” it all changed. January, 2006 an (improvised explosive device) IED blast hit near Bob and his field team while they were embedded in the military effort in Iraq. This is the story of Bob’s survival, a family’s resilience, and how their lives were forever changed.
In a wonderfully written depiction of those events, Bob and Lee go back to life well before the injury, through the horrific events of that January day, and how they have adapted to a new perspective on life and love. It is a heart warming story of hope and strength that will insist on your constant attention. It is close to impossible to put the book down as you journey through the pain and joy of both partners. I found myself engrossed in the newlywed life in China to be then sucked back to the bedside of a man critically injured, with countless unanswered questions of the future. The authors take turns writing on the major experiences that changed and formed their lives. I was intensely impressed with the degree of honesty; the intricacy of emotion. It is a book that will touch anyone who reads it. Enclosed between the pages are pictures that Bob and Lee share of their journey together and it will bring you to the scene of life at its most precious and most vulnerable.
In an Instant is a struggle for faith, a story of a family dealt a crushing blow, and the perseverance of a mother bent on pulling her loved ones through to the other side.
My respect and applause go out to both authors after reading their story. Traumatic Brain Injury is a slippery slope that is not fully understood by society at large; this is only the beginning. Thank you for the courage to come forward and expose the vulnerable side of injury and recovery…it can only make us stronger.
www.bobwoodrufffamilyfund.org
www.randomhouse.com