New ABC News Studios Special Chronicles Journalist Bob Woodruff’s Return to Iraq To Visit the Site of the Roadside Bombing That Almost Took His Life in 2006

ABC News Studios announced today “After The Blast: The Will To Survive,” a new special chronicling ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff’s emotional journey back to Iraq, where a split-second event changed his life forever. In early 2006, then-anchor Woodruff was reporting in war-torn Iraq when a horrific roadside bombing nearly took his life. He made it home after receiving lifesaving care from the U.S. military, but the attack left him with a traumatic brain injury and an extensive and painstaking recovery.

Now, almost 20 years later, Woodruff returns to the explosion site for the very first time to an area once known as the “Triangle of Death,” with his son, Mack, by his side. There, Woodruff reunites with the Iraqis who worked alongside the American troops to help save him as he retraces his 72 hours on the ground in 2006 and reexamines the implications of this war. Woodruff comes face-to-face with his past, talks candidly about the painful lessons he’s learned, and looks ahead to the future as he pursues his post-war mission to ensure no wounded veteran is left behind.

The one-hour network special features interviews with ABC News chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz; Woodruff family members, including his wife Lee Woodruff and son Mack Woodruff, one of the cinematographer who documents the trip back to Iraq; colleagues who were with Woodruff at the time of the explosion, including ABC News sound technician Magnus Macedo, former ABC News senior producer Kate Felsen, ABC News cameraman Doug Vogt, Army Col. Mike Jason (retired) and former Iraqi interpreter Omar Aljaff; Purple Heart Iraq veterans who were wounded in the war and more.

The hour will also showcase The Bob Woodruff Foundation’s annual Stand Up for Heroes benefit, including exclusive footage from the November 2023 event with performances by Josh Groban, Rita Wilson, Tracy Morgan, Jon Stewart and John Mellencamp. “After The Blast: The Will To Survive” airs on Friday, Nov. 10 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EST), on ABC, next day on Hulu.

“After The Blast: The Will To Survive” is produced by ABC News Studios. Wendy Krantz is executive producer, and David Sloan is senior executive producer. ABC News Studios is led by Mike Kelley, and Reena Mehta is the SVP of Streaming and Digital Content.

About ABC News Studios
ABC News Studios, inspired by ABC News’ trusted reporting, is an award-winning, premium news and documentary original production house and commissioning partner of series and specials. ABC News Studios champions untold and authentic stories driving the cultural zeitgeist spanning true-crime, investigations, pop culture and news-adjacent stories. ABC News Studios’ original titles include critically acclaimed documentaries “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” “Sound of the Police,” “The Lady Bird Diaries” and “Aftershock,” and popular docuseries and documentaries, including “Killing County,” “Wild Crime,” “Mormon No More,” “The Randall Scandal: Love, Loathing, and Vanderpump” and “Jelly Roll: Save Me.”

*COPYRIGHT ©2023 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All photography is copyrighted material and is for editorial use only. Images are not to be archived, altered, duplicated, resold, retransmitted or used for any other purposes without written permission of ABC. Images are distributed to the press in order to publicize current programming. Any other usage must be licensed. Photos posted for Web use must be at the low resolution of 72dpi, no larger than 2×3 in size.

TRAILER: https://tinyurl.com/ykt9rkku
ANNOUNCEMENT: https://tinyurl.com/43hy6m8a
SHARE: https://hrefshare.com/3ee36

Media Relations:
ABC News
Lauri Hogan | Lauri.L.Hogan@abc.com
Sydney Tretter | Sydney.Tretter@abc.com

For more information, follow ABC News Studios on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn.