The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up - A True Story

Zusatztext “[A] gripping true story.” -Publishers Weekly “The carpe-diem message resonates clearly in this moving! bittersweet account of another of life’s mysterious miracles.” -Kirkus Reviews “An excellent biography that reads like a novel! with a plot recording the events and a subplot delving into whether Herbert’s sixteen-hour return to consciousness was a miracle.” -Library Journal Informationen zum Autor Rich Blake Klappentext The remarkable story of a ?reman who miraculously came out of a coma for one full day On a brutally cold December day, Donny Herbert, a hardworking ?re?ghter from Buffalo, New York, was searching the attic of a burning house. The roof, heavy with snow, suddenly collapsed, and for six minutes he was without oxygen. Donny—a beloved husband, a father of four boys, and a neighborhood ?xture who was always willing to lend a helping hand—fell into a vegetative state that lasted nearly a decade. His prognosis was poor, and while he could open his eyes, he was unresponsive to the world around him. Donny Herbert was, for all practical purposes, gone. Until one day, in April 2005, when he woke up and spoke almost nonstop to his family and loved ones for nearly sixteen hours. The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up is the story of this unforgettable time, which was covered by the press worldwide. After his extraordinary day, Donny fell into a deep sleep and never experienced a comparable moment of clarity. He died of pneumonia in February 2006. For his doctors and nurses, it is a medical mystery. For his wife, Linda, who had held the family together for years, who had prayed nightly for Donny's recovery, no explanation is needed: prayer and love brought Donny back to her one last time. The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up is as much Linda's story—one of perseverance and faith—as it is of an exceptional husband, father, and ?re?ghter. Leseprobe One On a chilly Friday afternoon just before Christmas 1986, Donny Herbert kissed his young wife, Linda, on the forehead, bear hugged his three toddler sons, and set off for his first-ever shift as a Buffalo firefighter. For the twenty-five-year-old Seneca Street kid, this was one of the proudest days of his life. Donny might not have gone to college, but he was the first member of his family to join the department. The written and physical tests, months of limbo waiting for a slot, eight difficult weeks at the Buffalo Fire Department Training Academy--all of it had led to this moment. Donny intentionally took his time putting on his official uniform--navy blue button-down shirt, navy blue pants, black dress shoes. He packed his '84 Chevette hatchback with his personal set of BFD turnout gear and waved good-bye. "Good luck," Linda called from the front-porch doorway of their rickety Spaulding Street duplex, the shouting of the children drowning her out. Don Jr., a happy-go-lucky St. Agatha's kindergartner, was particularly amped up. "Daddy's gonna ride on the fire trucks!" he yelled as his younger brothers, Tommy and Patrick, parroted him, the three youngsters popping up and down like a set of firing pistons. In a few days Donny would start an official four-day tour as a member of the department's second platoon, which meant a rotating schedule consisting of two nine-hour day shifts (eight A.M. to five P.M.) and two fifteen-hour evening shifts (five P.M. to eight a.M.), followed by four days off in a row. He was being thrown into the mix midcycle, starting with an overnight stint. Donny was assigned to Ladder 6, housed along with Engine 21 on the corner of Best Street and Earl Place in one of the worst of Buffalo's East Side neighborhoods. No matter; Donny looked forward to life at that firehouse, a two-story hilltop outpost of red brick. "The Hill," as it was known in the department, was more than a century old and located one block east of War Memorial Stadium, an unused co...

Product details

• Authors: Rich Blake
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 09.12.2008
• EAN: 9780307383174
• ISBN: 978-0-307-38317-4
• No. of pages: 256
• Dimensions: 127 mm x 193 mm x 14 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general)