`Living with Brain Injury:

As Diverse as We Are’

            WASHINGTON - Monday Morning in Washington, DC noted the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has a partnership with ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and his family to raise awareness of brain injury (TBI) and to administer the newly-created Bob Woodruff Family Fund for TBI to assist servicemen and women and their families affected by the war in Iraq and Afghanistan .

            Woodruff sustained TBI from an explosive device while on assignment for ABC News in Iraq in January 2006. Although he received superior care, Bob, his wife Lee, and their extended family recognize many individuals with TBI don’t get the services and supports needed to regain their independence. They understand the lack of funding in the public, private, and military sectors - and they want to help.

            The Bob Woodruff Family Fund for TBI will raise money through events and other activities. Donations will be used to make grants to nonprofit organizations serving members of the military who have sustained TBI. In some cases, funds may be used to provide direct financial assistance to military personnel and their families and/or grants for medical research, public education, awareness, and prevention of TBI.

            Woodruff will file a series of reports for ABC World News, Good Morning America , and Nightline throughout March. The reports will cover various aspects of brain injury and will include some individuals featured in BIAA’s Brain Injury Awareness Month campaign, Living with Brain Injury: As Diverse as We Are.

            Where appropriate, allowable, and as time permits, Bob Woodruff and members of his family will serve as honorary spokespersons for BIAA by testifying before Congress and recording public service announcements. BIAA cited scientists and clinicians at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York for introducing the Woodruffs to BIAA.

            Susan H. Connors is the president/CEO, Brain Injury Association of America, 8201 Greensboro Drive, Suite 611 , McLean , VA 22102 . Or call 703-761-0750 ext. 627 ( Main ), 703-761-0755 (Fax), shconnors@biausa.org.