Get Well Soon

US doctors are trying to find out why a severely brain-damaged man has suddenly started to speak after nearly 10 years.

Donald Herbert, 43, a firefighter, was badly injured in a house fire in 1995 and was deprived of oxygen for several minutes before being rescued.

He was in a coma for more than two months, and since then he has been blind, barely able to speak and unable to recognise family and friends.

He has been in a nursing home in the city of Buffalo, in New York state, for more than seven years.

But on Saturday he suddenly asked for his wife Linda and chatted with her, his four sons and other family until he fell asleep on Sunday morning.

Medical experts say it is almost unheard of for patients to recover from such severe brain injuries after so many years

His uncle, Simon Manka, told AP news agency he thought he had only been away for three months.

He has since maintained his recovery.