Bob Woodruff to return to air in spring 2007

updated 4:27 p.m. ET Oct. 19, 2006

LOS ANGELES - Former ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff will return to the airwaves in spring 2007 to do a special report on the bombing in Iraq that left him gravely wounded and on his recovery, the network said Thursday.

At the same time, Woodruff, 45, and his wife, Lee, are co-authors of a book for publisher Random House focusing on their lives since the military patrol he was traveling with on assignment near Baghdad was hit by a roadside bomb on Jan. 29.

The blast left Woodruff with severe injuries to his chest, neck, face and head and ended his weeks-old tenure as co-anchor of ABC’s nightly newscast with Elizabeth Vargas. She later stepped down after becoming pregnant.

ABC News cameraman Doug Vogt, who suffered less serious injuries in the convoy attack, has since recovered.

Woodruff was under heavy sedation for weeks at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He was later transferred to a private facility in the New York City area before going home to continue rehabilitation on an out-patient basis.

He paid a surprise visit to ABC’s newsroom in June, his first trip back to the workplace since being wounded, and footage of that was shown on television. And he has since returned to work on a part-time basis.

His upcoming hourlong special report, which Woodruff will host sometime this coming spring, will mark his first on-camera appearance as a journalist since he was wounded.

The special will include Woodruff’s interviews with eyewitnesses to the roadside bombing and medical teams who saved his life, ABC said.

Woodruff also will report on the “the heroic efforts of the military medical teams that have saved thousands of soldiers’ lives and the stories of how those injured soldiers and their families bravely carry on despite life-altering injuries,” the network said.

A spokeswoman for Random House said no publication date for Woodruff’s book has been set, but she said the book would be released in conjunction with the upcoming ABC News special.

MORE FROM NEWS AND INFORMATION

‘Reporter’ Marcia Clark all over O.J. story

‘Reporter’ Marcia Clark all over O.J. story Robin Roberts of ‘GMA’ to begin chemo Woodruff quietly back at work at ABC News   Add News and information headlines to your news reader: