During a 1995 roof collapse, a fire fighter named Donald Herbert was left brain damaged. For ten years, he was unable to speak.Then, one Saturday morning, he did something that shocked his family and doctors. He started speaking. " I want to talk to my wife." Donald Herbert said out of the blue. 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 family and friends during the 14 hour stretch" Herbert' s uncle Simon Menka said. "How long have I been away?" Herbert asked. "We told him almost ten 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 underneath. After going without air for several minutes, Herbert was unconscious for two and a half months and has undergone therapy ever since. News accounts in the days and years after his injury, described Herbert as blind and with little if any memory. A video shows him receiving physical therapy but apparently unable to communicate and with little awareness of his surroundings.Menka declined to discuss his nephew' s current condition or whether the apparent progress is continuing. "The family was seeking privacy while doctors evaluated Herbert" , he said. As word of Herbert' s progress spread, visitors streamed into the nursing home. "He' s resting comfortably," the uncle told them.
