• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Heartbreaking moment firefighter who spent 10 years in a coma woke up to shocking revelation

Home> News> Health

Updated 13:57 6 Nov 2024 GMTPublished 13:53 6 Nov 2024 GMT

Heartbreaking moment firefighter who spent 10 years in a coma woke up to shocking revelation

Donald Herbert thought he had only been 'gone' for three months when he finally awoke after almost a decade

Olivia Burke

Olivia Burke

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/60 Minutes

Topics: Health, Parenting, US News, Weird

Olivia Burke
Olivia Burke

Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.

X

@livburke_

Advert

Advert

Advert

The family of a firefighter who spent nearly a decade in a minimally conscious state before suddenly regaining lucidity captured the heart-wrenching moment he woke up on camera.

Donald Herbert was just 34 years old when his life changed forever after he was badly injured while responding to a house fire in Buffalo, New York, in December 1995.

The roof of the property collapsed on the father-of-four, pinning him under a pile of debris which nearly suffocated him.

He was deprived of oxygen for several minutes before he was rescued by his colleagues - but by the time his wife Linda arrived at the hospital, he was already in a coma.

Advert

Speaking to Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes in 2007, Don's devastated spouse said: "I remember pleading and begging with him in the hospital when he was unresponsive.

"Don't leave me, don't leave the kids, we need you."

One of their sons added: "You try to get them to squeeze your hand or move a toe or something like that...we were looking for just about anything."

Donald Herbert was starved of oxygen after becoming trapped under debris while responding to a house fire (YouTube/60 Minutes)
Donald Herbert was starved of oxygen after becoming trapped under debris while responding to a house fire (YouTube/60 Minutes)

Don eventually emerged from his coma around a year later, but experienced struggles with his speech, vision and mobility, while he was also unable to eat without assistance.

Advert

The New Yorker could barely remember anything and did not recognise his nearest and dearest - and within a few months, he had slipped into a minimally conscious state.

This means that Don - who was also left blind following the accident - was able to respond to stimuli and show some awareness, but was otherwise unable to communicate.

His family were forced to move the firefighter to a nursing home where he was being kept alive by a feeding tube and could receive constant care, while Linda was told by experts she ought to let go.

She told Cooper: "I took him to one neurologist and I was basically begging him, you know, to tell me, 'Is he gonna get better, or isn't he?'

"And he just sort of said, 'Well, look at him. What do you see? You see what I see, there's nothing there'. And I was just devastated."

Advert

One of their son's described how it made him 'sick to his stomach' to see his father in such dire straits, while another said they 'never' got used to his dad being minimally conscious.

His wife Linda and their four sons explained that they were unable to communicate with Don for nearly ten years (YouTube/60 Minutes)
His wife Linda and their four sons explained that they were unable to communicate with Don for nearly ten years (YouTube/60 Minutes)

Don remained this way for more than nine years - until he suddenly awoke at the nursing home on 30 April, 2005, asking where his family was.

His loved ones and former firefighter pals all rushed to the care facility, where a nurse then lent them a video camera to record footage of Don's extraordinary 'awakening'.

"How long have I been gone?"

The then-43-year-old struggled to utter his first words after not speaking for nearly ten years, while his vision issues meant he was forced to recognise his relatives and pals by their voices.

Advert

In the tear-jerking video, Don's sons can be seen embracing their dad as he asked: "How long have I been gone?"

Obviously, a lot had changed in all of those years - including the height and maturity of his and Linda's youngest son, Nick, who was only four-years-old when Don was first injured.

"He still thought that I was really young and he went to put his hand out over me to see how tall I was," Nick said.

"We just kept telling him to raise his hand higher, because he was trying to feel for me down low."

The firefighter finally woke up in 2005 (YouTube/60 Minutes)
The firefighter finally woke up in 2005 (YouTube/60 Minutes)

"He felt like he abandoned us"

In another extremely emotional moment, Don then became visibly upset as he again asked how long he was 'gone' for, before sobbing when he finds out it had been nearly a decade.

Advert

"He felt so bad," Linda explained. "He felt like he abandoned us, he felt so bad that he wasn't there for the boys."

Don's uncle, Simon Manka, told AP news agency at the time that the firefighter was under the impression that he'd only been away for three months.

Medics around the world were left baffled by the patient's miraculous recovery from a minimally conscious state, as experts explained it is almost unheard of for patients to recover from severe brain injuries like Don's after so many years.

It is believed that Don's awakening might have been a result of him being given a new cocktail of drugs which were normally used to treat Parkinson's, ADHD and depression.

Tragically, despite his incredible comeback, the dad-of-four died the following year on 21 February, 2006.

Don had continued to wake up sporadically, but while attempting to get out of bed one day, he fell and suffered another brain injury.

The beloved firefighter then contracted pneumonia and passed away - less than a year after he woke up and reunited with his family.

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Killer who brutally decapitated his dad and put it on YouTube explained why he did it

    Justin Mohn admitted to killing his dad but claims it wasn't murder

    News
  • an hour ago

    Defence expert explains two ways UK can stop Russia's 'grey zone' attacks

    He estimates that there have been around 70 to 80 'grey zone' attacks across Europe

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Ozempic use is causing worrying bedroom side effect as doctor explains what is going on

    There's a very good explanation for it

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Trump speaks out on 'being whacked' in assassination attempt after secret service agents suspended over attack

    Trump got away with a bloody ear, while the secret service was heavily criticised for allowing it to happen

    News
  • Heartbreaking final words of teen who slipped into world's longest coma and never woke up
  • Woman who was in coma for 30 days had incredible life-changing moment shortly after waking up
  • Man had chilling vision 10 days in a row before plane crash that saw 273 people killed
  • Man who suffered from locked-in syndrome for 12 years describes moment he woke up and realised what was happening