Comatose Buffalo Firefighter Speaks

[Nickdfresh]

Everyone continues to talk about a fireman’s miraculous recovery


May 04, 2005 - 7 News is expected to get an update today on the condition of Buffalo firefighter Don Herbert.

The Catholic Health System has scheduled a news conference on the matter. In the meantime, the country continues to talk about this man's miraculous recovery.

It was a fire Patrick Coughlan will never forget.

The retired lieutenant worked in Rescue Company One, second platoon, with Don Herbert.

Don was one of his guys.

“Donny was a go getter, he was a very active, viable fireman, he ended up in the attic,” said Patrick Coughlan, retired fire lieutenant.

The roof would eventually cave in on the attic that December 1995 morning.

The force of the collapse knocked off Don's air mask depriving him of oxygen for several minutes.

Don Herbert, then 34-years-old, suffered severe brain damage. In the years since he's only been able to communicate through slurred words.

That is until Saturday afternoon.

“Some other members of the crew went out to see him and they couldn't believe it. They called me after the visit… ‘Paddy, you wouldn't believe it. He's talking, he remembers you, he remembers the whole crew,’” said Coughlan.

Patrick Coughlan took a trip out to Father Baker Manor on Sunday to see Don.

“He was fatigued, I would say, yes, sleepy and tired. He had been up to 6 in the morning talking,” said Coughlan.

From the time he first started talking Saturday afternoon, he kept going, for 14 hours straight, catching up with friends and family.

Don's former lieutenant says it's all big shock.

“It makes you stop and think about the power of prayer,” said Coughlan.

[FORD]

If I had gone into a coma in the mid 1990's and woken up today, I'd be praying that somebody knocked me out again.

[DrMaddVibe]

Damn, not even a full 2 months after Terri Schiavo....ain't that a bitch!

[FORD]

Originally posted by DrMaddVibe
Damn, not even a full 2 months after Terri Schiavo....ain't that a bitch!

Obviously this guy's brain wasn't a sack of spinal fluid.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by FORD
Obviously this guy's brain wasn't a sack of spinal fluid.

No it isn't. He was severally brain damaged, but he had periods of lucid semi-consciousness.

[knuckleboner]

this guy, according to other articles was definitely NOT in a persistent vegetative state.

[McCarrens]

Whatever. Let's just see the liberal bitches to cover their asses this time.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by McCarrens
Whatever. Let's just see the liberal bitches to cover their asses this time.

Liberla bitches? Are you like 12 or something? Wha the hell are you talking about?

[FORD]

I'm still waiting for the neoconservative bitches to justify that baby with leukemia being unplugged in Texas.

[DrMaddVibe]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
No it isn't. He was severally brain damaged, but he had periods of lucid semi-consciousness.

Yet you can't garner a headline of your own?!?

Must be something in the water up there!

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by DrMaddVibe
Yet you can't garner a headline of your own?!?

Must be something in the water up there!

WTF's that supposed to mean?

[DrMaddVibe]

A Kansas woman severely brain-injured after an accident in 2002 has begun speaking – to the amazement of her doctor.

On Sept. 3, 2002, Tracy Gaskill suffered critical internal and head injuries when her pickup overturned. Doctors told her relatives that night that she probably would die by noon the next day, her grandfather, Don Gaskill, told the Ark City Traveler.

"That accident scared us to death," Gaskill said. Both Gaskill and his granddaughter hail from rural Winfield, Kan.

According to the report, the Gaskill family and many others in the Cowley County community prayed for Tracy regularly since the accident, and she had daily visits.

Not only did Tracy live beyond the day after the accident, she gradually began to improve.

Then, about three weeks ago, she spoke for the first time since the accident, about the same time she began to swallow on her own.

Previous to that she was fed via a feeding tube, similar to Floridian Terri Schiavo, who died in March of starvation and dehydration after the court-ordered removal of her nourishment.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Dr. David Schmeidler told the local paper. "I have never seen this happen in my career. I've read about it happening, the severely brain damaged recovering suddenly, but never seen it – until now."

Continued Schmeidler: "She is actually able to speak and to speak coherently. In light of all this stuff on Terri Schiavo ... it makes you pause and think. For three years or so, (Tracy) was fed through a tube, then she swallowed a little bit and now she speaks."

Lynda Marshall is a registered nurse who has worked with Tracy.

"It's really quite amazing (that Tracy can speak)," she told the Traveler. "After they've been without speech and the ability to eat that long, it's very rare they're able to come back."

Marshall said Tracy will get speech therapy, continue working on improving cognitive functions and eat on her own.

Tracy received what Schiavo did not – at least in the last several years – therapy.

According to the report, in the last few months, nurses worked with her to get her to hum. Eventually, she started to speak clearly.

Asked how old she was, Tracy reportedly answered, "Twenty-nine."

"You're 30," her grandfather corrected her. "Remember, you had another birthday."

Last week, it was reported Donald Herbert awoke from a coma and spoke for the first time in 10 years. A Buffalo, N.Y., firefighter, Herbert was severely brain injured while fighting a fire in 1995.