By Buffalo, NY
Associated Press – He spent nearly a decade in a coma after being injured while battling a fire, then suddenly woke up and started talking.
Don Herbert's recovery from nearly ten years in a coma stunned his family and friends and made national news.
Tuesday morning, Buffalo Fire Commissioner Michael Lombardo announced that the 44-year-old former firefighter died at a nursing home. Herbert had come down with pneumonia several days ago and died shortly before 2 a-m.
Herbert was severely injured while trying to douse a house fire in Buffalo in December 1995. The roof of the building collapsed on him and he suffered brain damage after being deprived of oxygen for several minutes.
He remained in a coma until last spring, when he suddenly woke up and started talking -- and kept talking for about 15 hours.