Have you seen these pictures of Bob Woodruff's recovery from the IED explosion?

[moc]

:wow:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/popup?id=2887730&content=&page=1

[underpants]

1. Amazing

[AndyA]

2. Amazing. He's gone through so much, and his recovery has been astonishing.

Bob's a handsome guy, I'm glad he's back.

[Double T]

3. Amazing recovery..............

Bob Woodruff is one Lucky Guy to be alive.

[A Brand New World]

4. It's amazing he's still alive. And in the last picture, he looks as

handsome as ever. He sure looked bad in that third picture with 1/4 of his skull missing. Very awful!

[peace13]

5. Wow he looks great.

Why do I find myself wondering if all soldiers get this kind of reconstruction care?

[freefall]

15. Exactly. I'm glad he is doing so well and got such great care but I sure

wish all those not-so-famous GIs at Walter Reed were being treated as well as Bob Woodruff.

Peace,

[Beaverhausen]

6. amazing photos

but I can't help but think of other photos of soldiers with similar injuries who didn't get the skull replacement and still look 'freaky.'

I mean no ill will towards Woodruff, but still, he's one of the lucky ones.

[tk2kewl]

7. Wow! Amazing.

:wow:

[Supersedeas]

8. Wow...truly amazing.

[Horse with no Name]

9. Absolutely amazing.

I am glad for his recovery.
He got the best healthcare money can buy....too bad it isn't available for many of our soldiers who have also suffered similar injuries.

[catgirl]

10. Thanks for sharing this

I heard he was starting work again.

[MidwestTransplant]

11. Thanks for the link. Pretty amazing.

[soothsayer]

12. they never should have sent the poor jguy there. was all set to

take over as the main anchor. what a waste.

[jelly]

13. I just saw them and came here to see what you guys thought.

Amazing, I agree. Clearly such a courageous and determined guy, to have gone through all that and just about a year later already back in front of the TV cameras.

I plan to watch the show about his experience, scheduled to air next Tuesday the 27th.

Moving forward, I think we can count on Woodruff not to sugarcoat the desperate state of affairs in Iraq, and the reality that war is hell.

[corkhead]

14. like they said...

wow and amazing

[snappyturtle]

16. Wonderful! How did his skull sustain such horrific destruction &

if he's working again, his brain was spared? Maybe we're talking miracle here. I hope any soldier who has the same injury gets the same care but after seeing Bldg. 18 I'm suspect.

[hunter]

20. I'm not going to look it up, but surgeons probably removed part of his skull, not the explosion.

After trauma the brain swells like most any other body part, and if there is no room for that expansion the brain is further damaged. Trauma surgeons remove part of the skull to make room for that swelling.

Although his survival is testament to modern trauma medicine, somehow I doubt he's ever going to be the same as he was before the explosion. These horrors always have consequences, sometimes subtle, sometimes profound.

Whatever is going on here, it is not "miraculous." A proper miracle would be if he was never injured in the first place.

Woodruff had spot-on medical care and seems to have been fortunate to recover substantial function. A lot of people with very similar injuries die or never recover well enough to resume their lives as they were previous to the injury.

[SeattleGirl]

17. Wow indeed!

I'm so glad he's doing well.

[Tin Man]

18. Amazing - that's the word alright.

Bob is one fortunate guy.

[tammywammy]

19. Wow

It's quite amazing what the medical field can do now. He looks great, having part of his skull gone and replaced didn't even mess up his part!

:)