Bob Woodruff's wife meets life-saving nurse

CENTER CITY - March 23, 2011 (WPVI) -- Lee Woodruff, the wife of ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, was in Philadelphia tonight to talk to an audience of 5,000 nurses.

But she was especially happy to reconnect with the very same nurse that helped save her husband's life in Iraq just over five years ago.

Back in 2006, Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were in Iraq reporting on the war when an improvised explosive device went off near the tank they were riding in.

As Woodruff's wife Lee explains, the words of Lt. Colonel Debra Muhl, a registered nurse, were more than a comfort, they were hope.

"[You] leaned over, you didn't think he was going to make it and you just kept talking, saying you'd get him back to his family. As a wife, a thousand miles away, I could cry right now," Lee said to Debra.

The two reunited at the Pennsylvania Convention Center where Lee Woodruff was the keynote speaker at the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses Congress.

Lee read an excerpt from her book 'Perfectly Imperfect: A Life in Progress.' She spoke about her family's journey through her husband's recovery from his traumatic brain injury and how important the nurses were physically and emotionally.

"It's that care, it's the human factor that you get especially from the nurses that's so important when your family is hanging in the balance, waiting for news, or hoping your loved one is in good hands," Lee Woodruff said.

Recently retired after 35 years in the military, eight deployments, Lieutenant Colonel Debra Muhl appreciates the thanks, but it's Bob's recovery that really matters to her.

"I'm so happy he got to go back to his family, his children and his wife, that just makes it for me," Debra said.

The Woodruffs and Lt. Colonel Muhl have kept in touch over the last five years. It is quite clear the gratitude the Woodruffs have for Muhl and the rest of the medical staff hasn't faded with the time.

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philadelphia, pennsylvania, iraq, local/state, katherine scott

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