First words after 10 years in a coma

The wife of a brain-damaged firefighter said it was "overwhelming" to hear her husband speak after nearly 10 years of silence, a startling revival his doctor credited to a new &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/columnists/2002/09/12/36461.html ' target=_blank>drug treatment.

Donald Herbert, 43, suddenly snapped to attention on Saturday after years of sitting silently in a wheelchair at his nursing home. He stunned the nursing home staff by asking where his wife, Linda, was, informs Reuters.

Linda Herbert was summoned to the Father Baker Manor nursing home, where the injured firefighter engaged family and friends in a 14-hour visit. On Wednesday, Linda Herbert told a news conference that hearing her husband speak again was "overwhelming."

Firefighter Donald Herbert rushed into a blazing apartment in Buffalo, New York, in 1995. The roof caved-in, crushing him and depriving him of oxygen for about six minutes. He was left virtually blind, unable to speak, and without memory, even of his loved ones.