Tonight on World News with Charles Gibson and on Nightline, ABC's Bob Woodruff reports on the medical condition of South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson. On Friday TVNewser reported that Woodruff was the first reporter to interview Johnson, who suffered a brain hemorrhage in December.

"I think the Johnson family understood that they were talking to someone who had been through a similar experience," Woodruff tells TVNewser. Woodruff was injured in an IED attack in Iraq in January of 2006. "They had read my book and knew that my family faced similar struggles, not knowing if I would survive. In this case the Johnson family truly didn't know if their husband and father would survive."

The story includes interviews with Sen. Johnson, and his wife Barbara. "The common bond of situational understanding helped make them comfortable talking to me, and I am glad I can bring our audience their story."

There is a celebration in Johnson's honor later today in Sioux Falls, SD. He returns to the Senate next week.