"LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Six weeks after he was gravely wounded by a bomb blast on assignment in Iraq, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff was released on Thursday from a military hospital outside Washington, the network said.
Woodruff, 44, who has been up and about, talking and joking with family and watching the news, will continue his recovery for the next few weeks at a private facility in the New York City area, ABC News President David Westin said in an e-mail to colleagues and others in the media.
After that, Woodruff is expected to go home and undergo further rehabilitation on an out-patient basis.
'He continues to show just how strong and determined he is,' Westin said of Woodruff's recovery. 'That said, we expect months of further recuperation.'
Woodruff was seriously wounded by a roadside bomb while riding in a military patrol near Baghdad on January 29, suffering injuries to his chest, neck, face and head. He had remained under heavy sedation for weeks during his initial recovery at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
His cameraman, Dough Vogt, who suffered less extensive injuries in the blast, was moved to an out-patient care facility in February.
ABC News executives have said they still hope Woodruff can eventually return to his duties as co-anchor of the network's weeknight 'World News Tonight' broadcast with Elizabeth Vargas.
The network debuted its new two-anchor newscast format on January 3 with Woodruff and Vargas permanently taking the place of the late Peter Jennings, who died of lung cancer in August.
After Woodruf"was injured, ABC's leading breakfast-hour personalities, "Good Morning America" co-hosts Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson, took turns filling in as co-anchors with Vargas as speculation swirled about whether one of them might be named to permanently join the "World News Tonight" team.
During the past week, Vargas has anchored the evening newscast alone.
Vargas raised further questions about the immediate future of "World News Tonight" when she revealed last month that she was expecting a baby in late summer, though she plans to stay on the job through most of her pregnancy.
Reuters/VNU
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