Home of Buffalo firefighter's widow burglarized. Items stolen belonging to Don Herbert who woke briefly from 10-year coma before dying.

From Claudine Ewing at WGRZ-TV:

Linda Herbert told 2 On Your Side that burglars ransacked her home in the City of Buffalo and took precious items that belonged to her late husband, firefighter Don Herbert.

“The most devastating thing was the wedding bands and my engagement ring because that’s something you can’t replace,” said Linda Herbert about a recent burglary at her South Buffalo home earlier this month.

Her late husband’s high school ring from Bishop Timon was stolen, along with school rings belonging to her sons and her father.

“It’s like losing another piece of him. Once you lose that person, there are personal items that you knew they cared for and worked so hard to give you. It’s ridiculous. It’s like actually going through a mourning process again because those things are lost.”

Firefighter Don Herbert was knocked unconscious while battling a fire in 1995. He had severe head trauma as well as prolonged oxygen deprivation and remained in a coma for months. After a decade, Herbert woke up from a coma then died several months later.

Linda Herbert has checked area pawn shops. She has even left a list of the items stolen.

Rosary beads given to Linda as a gift while her husband was alive were taken. “Those were part of his funeral,” she said.

Herbert wants the perpetrators caught and prosecuted.

She is disgusted with the rash of abandoned homes in the city and burglaries in her neighborhood. “I feel like I’m being forced out of my home and this home means so much to me. Don built a lot of this house.”