Heartfelt Awakening: Firefighter Speaks After 10-Year Coma

Don Herbert was a firefighter in New York. In 1995, he responded to a massive fire at a private residence, where the roof suddenly collapsed. Tragically, he was trapped under the debris of one of the rooms and was pulled out unconscious by his fellow firefighters. 

When his wife and children arrived at the hospital hours later, he was already in a coma. "I remember talking to him and crying, but he didn't respond," his wife recounted in an interview with CBS News. "I begged him not to leave me and the kids. I cried and told him we needed him."

Don as a firefighter before the accident

"At that time, we clung to everything. There was hardly anything we didn't try. Every method, every medicine, every approach was worth it to us to get dad back," his eldest son recalled. Their hope sustained Don, but months later, without any warning, the worst happened. 

"Initially, he could nod and say yes or no, but he couldn’t communicate. Shortly after, even those small signs ceased, and his condition deteriorated until we lost him completely. I had no choice but to admit him to a special nursing home for people like him," said his wife Linda. 

"We try to live in the present, not in the past"

Occasionally, Don was able to take short stays with his family, confined to a wheelchair, while doctors remained pessimistic about his recovery. "We knew this condition was irreversible and led only in one direction—death, but we still tried to remain optimistic." 

The house where Don was trapped and lost consciousness

Over the years, his four sons grew into adults. They married and started families of their own, while Don remained in the same condition. "Growing up, our home was filled with various devices for dad's care: feeding tubes, syringes, and bandages. We knew how to take care of him from a young age," the sons said. "We had accepted this fate and lived with it."

Then one day, the unexpected phone call came from the nursing home's nurse. "She called us excitedly to tell us that Don had awakened, and the first words he uttered were, 'Where is my family?' We rushed there immediately, and I couldn't believe my eyes. My husband recognized me, he knew all the kids by name, and he smiled a huge grin when he met us again."

Don and his family before the accident

The extraordinary aspect of this story is that Don cannot recognize the person in front of him until he hears their voice. Once he hears the voice, he retrieves the correct memory—except for his youngest son, who was four when Don was injured.

One of the most moving moments captured on video is a family scene taken on the day Don opened his eyes, where he breaks down in uncontrollable tears, asking in a barely comprehensible language: 'How long was I gone, and how did it happen?' "We try not to dwell on the how in the past tense, but in the present. How do we move forward from here? How do we make the best of our time with him, my husband, the father of my children?" Linda concluded.  

See images from this incredible story:

Don on a family outing from the nursing home where he stayed

Don shortly after awakening from the coma and breaking down in tears

Don's youngest son, whom he still struggles to recognize

(Translated from English by Shira Cohen)