As a former reporter who covered the tragic saga involving Buffalo firefighter Don Herbert, I found this to be a compelling read. True, the fact that I can relate to all of the Western New York "connections" likely account for at least a half-star in my overall rating. But Blake did a skillful job chronicling the twists in this sad chapter of our region's history. He also deserves credit for exploring the internal family struggles that occurred during this agonizing ordeal. ( )

8. This Guy Has Been Writing For How Long?: Books from authors that I have not read before

[Death Troopers] by: Joe Schreiber

1. [The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up] by: Rich Blake

This was a touching story about a Buffalo firefighter who’s was trapped in a burning building when the roof collapsed. He was pinned in such a position that his brain did not receive oxygen for several minutes. At 6 minutes lack of oxygen to the brain will cause extreme and irreparable damage. Donny was without oxygen for at least that long, he also received a severe blow to the head for one of the roof beams as well (a traumatic event all to itself).

After many, days, weeks, months, and finally years Linda Herbert (Donny's wife), and his children had slowly resigned themselves to the fact that Donny would remain severely brain damaged and unable to communicate with them.

Somehow through divine intervention, a miracle of modern medicine, Donny's sheer will, or a combination of all three, Donny came to. He was able to communicate, remember people and some events from the past. It was the miracle that Donny's family had forever prayed for.

This is a touching story about a family man who enjoyed life to the fullest before his accident. It is also a tale about just how precious life is and how quickly it can change, without warning. I was moved by this story and feel it is a worthy read. ( )

very spiritual. it is clear that this is meant to be an inspirational story. there is much back story about the family and events prior to the accident. i wasn't expecting it to be quite this...squishy. it seems he woke up for about a week and then slowly regressed back into a vegetative state. i read it because it reminded me an episode of House and i wanted to know what really happened. it seems from the book that during his time of awakening no one asked him what his experience of the last ten years was like. no one asked him what he was feeling. as the days wore on, it seemed that he was struggling more and more to communicate and no one tried to learn anything from his experience??? instead, they let everything go and said it was all due to god (sic). they didn't want to be improper, or rude. they didn't want to be disrespectful to god. what a wasted experience. so much could have been learned from his viewpoint. ( )

This is the true story of Donny Herbert, a Buffalo, New York fire fighter who was injured on the job and went into a coma in December 1995. He woke up from his coma in April 2005 and talked to his family for 16 hours straight. Was it the families faith in God, the doctor's drug cocktail or Donny's own determination to come back to his family or a combination of those things? Soon afterwards, Donny slipped back into his comatose state and died in February 2006 of pneumonia. A wonderful story of a miracle, faith, and courage. ( )