Man who spoke after years in coma dies at 44

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, February 21, 2006

A brain-injured firefighter who suddenly spoke after nearly a decade in a stupor, giving hope to families of countless other patients, died Tuesday in Buffalo, New York. He was 44.

Donald Herbert was injured in December 1995, when the roof of a burning home collapsed on him. Deprived of oxygen for several minutes, he ended up blind, was largely mute and showed little awareness of his surroundings for years.

But on April 30, 2005, he shocked his family with a 14-hour talking jag. Since then, he had spoken only sporadically.

Herbert was hospitalized again with an infection on Sunday.

His breakthrough came three months after his doctor began giving him drugs normally used to treat Parkinson’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.

Until the weekend before his death, Herbert continued to interact and speak, but never to the extent of the initial burst, said fire commissioner Michael Lombardo, a longtime friend of Herbert’s. As recently as last week, he had been playing catch with his sons in the nursing home where he lived, Lombardo said.

Associated Press