(merged) Comatose Firefighter Speaks

[rick301]

interesting story ...

***********************

http://wgrz.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=28180

Comatose Firefighter Speaks

Posted by: Judy Wichrowski, Producer

Created: 5/2/2005 11:34:51 AM

Updated: 5/3/2005 8:07:30 AM

Buffalo firefighter Donald Herbert spoke to family members for the first time in nearly a decade. Herbert has been in a brain-damaged state since suffering severe injuries while fighting a fire in December of 1995.

Herbert was trapped in a building after a roof collapsed on him while fighting the fire.

Herbert has been at Father Baker Manor nursing home for the past several years, but relatives say over the weekend he started talking again and his memory returned.

Friends and former colleagues say he has talked with his family and with former co-workers.

[ntotoro]

Not to hijack the thread far off, but I finally visited the Basilica in Buffalo, which was founded by Fr Baker, during Christmas last year. He was a remarkable human being. The Basilica was impressive... just gorgeous.

Nick

[SkinsNut73]

Wow. Not only talking again, but his memory returned....interesting.

[Phat Hog]

Wow... thats pretty amazing!

[Beaudry]

I thought "brain dead" didnt' work that way.

[@DCGoldPants]

I knew somebody was going to try making the connection.

He wasn't brain dead.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7717220/

Herbert was fighting a house fire Dec. 29, 1995, when the roof collapsed, burying him under debris. After going without air for several minutes, Herbert was comatose for 2 1/2 months and has undergone therapy ever since.

News accounts in the days and years after his injury describe Herbert as blind and with little, if any, memory. Video shows him receiving physical therapy but apparently unable to communicate and with little awareness of his surroundings.

alittle different than having a tube in your stomach and not coming out of a comatose state after 2 1/2 months.

just accept this as a feel good story.

[Cdowwe]

i think the fact that he couldnt communicate and had no memory for 10 years makes this a little bit the same, either way amazing story

[Phat Hog]

Maybe he was frightened out of the Coma by the Schaivo result.

[JMac]

This is an awesome story.

It made me think though. Can you imagine if you were "asleep" and to learn of the events of the last 10 years?

[redman]

Originally posted by JMac

This is an awesome story.

It made me think though. Can you imagine if you were "asleep" and to learn of the events of the last 10 years?

True. Think of describing 9/11 to someone.

[@DCGoldPants]

Originally posted by redman

True. Think of describing 9/11 to someone.

whoa, I hadn't thought of that.

9/11, Shuttle explosion, Tsunami, 2nd Term for a totally different President who he most likely didn't know (that there was a 2nd George Bush).

I think in honor of this crazy event.

We should list some of the things we remember most from the past 10 years.

My mind is going 100 mph now.

[SkinsNut73]

Originally posted by Bufford

whoa, I hadn't thought of that.

9/11, Shuttle explosion, Tsunami, 2nd Term for a totally different President who he most likely didn't know (that there was a 2nd George Bush).

I think in honor of this crazy event.

We should list some of the things we remember most from the past 10 years.

My mind is going 100 mph now.

Red Sox won a World Series.

Nah, on second thought...we better not tell him that...might send him into shock:D

...but in thinking about it, the world has changed an awful lot in the last 10 years....hell, the last 5 years have seen some dramatic changes as Bufford already touched on.

[DjTj]

Al Gore invented the internet ... huge.

Then Al Gore lost an election after going through hanging chads and recounts and a Supreme Court decision.

Arnold Schwarzenegger got elected governor of California. :rubeyes:

[Skins24]

New Pope

Saddam is no longer in power

3 new Star Wars films

Joe Gibbs is back

Reality shows

[Beaudry]

Originally posted by Bufford

I knew somebody was going to try making the connection.

He wasn't brain dead.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7717220/

alittle different than having a tube in your stomach and not coming out of a comatose state after 2 1/2 months.

just accept this as a feel good story.

NO! He obviously wouldn't want to be kept alive without having 100% memory. I say we pull the plug, lock him in the basement, and starve him to death. He would prefer it that way.

[Predicto]

Originally posted by Beaudry

NO! He obviously wouldn't want to be kept alive without having 100% memory. I say we pull the plug, lock him in the basement, and starve him to death. He would prefer it that way.

Whoh, subtle.

[Phat Hog]

Originally posted by Beaudry

NO! He obviously wouldn't want to be kept alive without having 100% memory. I say we pull the plug, lock him in the basement, and starve him to death. He would prefer it that way.

Touche’!

[@DCGoldPants]

we're all dumber for reading your response.

[Destino]

ORCHARD PARK, New York (AP) -- Ten years after a firefighter was left brain-damaged and mostly mute during a 1995 roof collapse, he did something that shocked his family and doctors: He perked up.

"I want to talk to my wife," Donald Herbert said out of the blue Saturday. Staff members of the nursing home where he has lived for more than seven years raced to get Linda Herbert on the telephone.

It was the first of many conversations the 44-year-old patient had with his wife, four sons and other family and friends during a 14-hour stretch, Herbert's uncle, Simon Manka said.

"How long have I been away?" Herbert asked.

"We told him almost 10 years," the uncle said. "He thought it was only three months."

Herbert was fighting a house fire December 29, 1995, when the roof collapsed, burying him under debris. After going without air for several minutes, Herbert was comatose for 2 1/2 months and has undergone therapy ever since.

News accounts in the days and years after his injury describe Herbert as blind and with little, if any, memory. Video shows him receiving physical therapy but apparently unable to communicate and with little awareness of his surroundings.

Manka declined to discuss his nephew's current condition, or whether the apparent progress was continuing. The family was seeking privacy while doctors evaluated Herbert, he said.

"He's resting comfortably," the uncle said.

As word of Herbert's progress spread, a steady stream of visitors arrived at the Father Baker Manor nursing home in this Buffalo suburb.

"He stayed up till early morning talking with his boys and catching up on what they've been doing over the last several years," firefighter Anthony Liberatore told WIVB-TV.

Herbert's sons were 14, 13, 11 and 3 when he was injured.

Staff members at the nursing facility recognized the change in Herbert, Manka said, when they heard him speaking and "making specific requests."

"The word of the day was `amazing,"' he said.

Dr. Rose Lynn Sherr of New York University Medical Center said when patients recover from brain injuries, they usually do so within two or three years.

"It's almost unheard of after 10 years," she said, "but sometimes things do happen and people suddenly improve and we don't understand why."

Manka said visitors let Herbert set the pace of the conversations and did not bring up the fire in which he was injured.

"The extent and duration of his recovery is not known at this time," Manka said. "However we can tell you he did recognize several family members and friends and did call them by name."

This CNN Article gives us some more details. I hope this change in condition isn't temporary.

The article mentions his kids were "14, 13, 11 and 3" which means he's woken up to 3 men and a teenager.

[Westbrook36]

Scanned the first page, didn't see this:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/05/03/firefighter.speaks.ap/index.html

ORCHARD PARK, New York (AP) -- Ten years after a firefighter was left brain-damaged and mostly mute during a 1995 roof collapse, he did something that shocked his family and doctors: He perked up.

"I want to talk to my wife," Donald Herbert said out of the blue Saturday. Staff members of the nursing home where he has lived for more than seven years raced to get Linda Herbert on the telephone.

It was the first of many conversations the 44-year-old patient had with his wife, four sons and other family and friends during a 14-hour stretch, Herbert's uncle, Simon Manka said.

"How long have I been away?" Herbert asked.

"We told him almost 10 years," the uncle said. "He thought it was only three months."

Herbert was fighting a house fire December 29, 1995, when the roof collapsed, burying him under debris. After going without air for several minutes, Herbert was comatose for 2 1/2 months and has undergone therapy ever since.

News accounts in the days and years after his injury describe Herbert as blind and with little, if any, memory. Video shows him receiving physical therapy but apparently unable to communicate and with little awareness of his surroundings.

Manka declined to discuss his nephew's current condition, or whether the apparent progress was continuing. The family was seeking privacy while doctors evaluated Herbert, he said.

"He's resting comfortably," the uncle said.

As word of Herbert's progress spread, a steady stream of visitors arrived at the Father Baker Manor nursing home in this Buffalo suburb.

"He stayed up till early morning talking with his boys and catching up on what they've been doing over the last several years," firefighter Anthony Liberatore told WIVB-TV.

Herbert's sons were 14, 13, 11 and 3 when he was injured.

Staff members at the nursing facility recognized the change in Herbert, Manka said, when they heard him speaking and "making specific requests."

"The word of the day was `amazing,"' he said.

Dr. Rose Lynn Sherr of New York University Medical Center said when patients recover from brain injuries, they usually do so within two or three years.

"It's almost unheard of after 10 years," she said, "but sometimes things do happen and people suddenly improve and we don't understand why."

Manka said visitors let Herbert set the pace of the conversations and did not bring up the fire in which he was injured.

"The extent and duration of his recovery is not known at this time," Manka said. "However we can tell you he did recognize several family members and friends and did call them by name."

[Trevor]

Originally posted by JMac

This is an awesome story.

It made me think though. Can you imagine if you were "asleep" and to learn of the events of the last 10 years?

You'd probably be pretty happy that you missed the Norv Turner and Steve Spurrier tenures.

seriously, I'm sure it would be quite tough and I would need to see a lot of proof to be convinced of what year it actually was.

[Thiebear]

No Kidding: I went into a coma at the end of Gibbs.

And woke up at the beginning of Gibbs?

Brilliant!