#76 The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up

#76
The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up
Rich Blake
2007
246
Biography
5 out of 5
Library

In 1995, 34 year old Buffalo firefighter, Donny Herbert was trapped under a collapsed roof in a burning house and deprived of oxygen for six minutes; he suffered severe anoxic brain injury and lapsed into a coma with occasional semi responsive moments. His wife, Linda, and their four young sons prayed diligently and reached out to their Catholic community, and over the years tried different forms of rehab for Donny, including intensive physical and speech therapy in addition to new drugs cocktails. However, he remained more or less unchanged, and the doctors seemed to give up hope and predicted a vegetative state for the rest of his life. Not giving up or taking no for an answer, Linda took him to Dr. Jamil Ahmed, who experimented with Donny's medications, and on a what appeared to be a typical day in 2005, Donny simply started talking again. At first nobody believed the call from Donny’s sister in law since she was the family practical jokester but the family quickly ran to Donny’s rehab center and for a few days Donny caught up on nine years of family history, including re-meeting his young son who he could not believe was the baby that he remembered; the talking eventually subsided, and the family had very little time left with Donny. It is impossible not to tie Donny's recovery to divine intervention since faith and the story of Father Nelson Baker are such crucial parts of the whole story. This is a truly remarkable account that that has you turning pages way into the night and gives you hope that true miracles can and do happen.

Amazon Review: A Miracle Not Easily Forgotten
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307383164/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img