Brain-damaged man speaks after 10 years

A firefighter left severely brain-damaged and practically mute almost 10 years ago has stunned doctors by suddenly asking for his wife.

Donald Herbert was badly injured in a 1995 house fire when he was buried under debris and starved of oxygen for several minutes.

He went into a coma for two-and-a-half months but has since been blind and barely able to speak, with little or no memory.

Then, out of the blue this weekend, he looked up and announced: “I want to talk to my wife.”

Shocked carers at his New York nursing home raced to the phone, and Mr Herbert, 43, stayed awake for the next 14 hours as he spoke with his wife, four sons and former colleagues.

He was shocked when he asked how long he had been away.

Simon Manka, his uncle and family spokesman, said: “We told him almost 10 years. He thought it had been three months.”

Asked how he felt, Mr Herbert replied: “I feel great.”

His uncle said he had been able to recognise voices but cautioned that there was still room for improvement.

“The extent and duration of his recovery is not known at this time,” Mr Manka said.

“However we can tell you he did recognise several family members and friends and did call them by name.”

After staying up all night to catch up with his sons, who were aged between three and 14 when he was injured, Mr Herbert slept uninterrupted for 30 hours.

Stephanie Hoey from local television station WKBW, said the family was stopping short of calling it a miracle.

“They don’t know whether it was a one day event,” she said. “He just started talking out of nowhere. Since then he has been resting.”

Medical experts said it was almost unheard of for patients to recover from brain injuries after 10 years.

They said it was impossible to tell what the consequences would be for Mr Herbert or whether there would be improvement over months and years.

But Dr Rose Lynn Sherr of New York University Medical Centre, said: “Sometimes things do happen and people suddenly improveand we don’t understand why.”