BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A brain-injured firefighter who seemed to snap out of an almost decade-long stupor just over a month ago has been moved to Chicago to continue intensive therapy, his doctor said.
Donald Herbert, who shocked his family April 30 by going from nearly mute to a 14-hour talking jag, was moved this week to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Since his recovery, Herbert, 44, has had sporadic conversations and has played with a soccer ball at the suburban nursing home where he was living.
''He gets excited when you talk about his past,'' his doctor, Jamil Ahmed of the Erie County Medical Center, told radio station WBEN. ''Sometimes he gives a remark, sometimes he makes jokes.''
Herbert is expected to remain in Chicago for a month or two, the station reported.
Herbert went without oxygen for several minutes after being trapped under a collapsed roof while fighting a house fire in December 1995.
He remained in a near persistent vegetative state until Ahmed put him on a combination of drugs usually used to treat Parkinson's disease, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Ahmed had used such drugs to help other brain-injury patients regain focus and memory and said he had seen the drugs bring people out of comas.
Ahmed recently described Herbert as responsive and said he had recovered from a recent fall that left him with a slight concussion and cut over his eye that required more than 10 stitches.
Relatives have declined to speak with reporters since early May.
Related:
- Lieutenant Talks About Brain Damaged Firefighter's Recovery
- After Nearly 10 Years Without Talking, Something Clicked in Brain-Damaged Firefighter's Brain
- Firefighter Who Emerged From 10 Years of Silence Still Somewhat Lucid, but Not as Talkative
- No Easy Explanation for Sudden, Long-Delayed Recoveries from Brain Damage
- New York Firefighter Recovers After Being Brain Damaged for 10 Years
