in 1981, branigan met larry kruteck, an attorney, at a party in manhattan. they married that same year, when she was 24 years old and he was 44. in 1994 her husband was diagnosed with colon cancer. she quit singing to take care of him full time. kruteck died in 1996. in 2001, as she was just returning to singing again, she fell from a ladder at her home and broke both her legs. branigan was in physical therapy for six months.