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| Nurse Susan Berger, left, and Amanda Scarpinati pose with a copy of a 1977 Albany Medical Center annual report during a news conference at Albany Medical Center, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, in Albany, N.Y. Scarpinati, who suffered severe burns as an infant, is finally getting the chance to thank Berger who cared for her, thanks to a social media posting that revealed the identity of the nurse in 38-year-old photos. |
ALBANY, N.Y.
(AP) -- For 38 years, a few black-and-white photographs of a nurse
cradling a baby provided comfort to a woman who suffered terrible burns
and endured years of playground taunts and painful surgeries thereafter.
For all that time, until Tuesday, she dreamed of meeting her again.
The
photos show Amanda Scarpinati at just 3 months old, her head thickly
wrapped in gauze, resting calmly in the nurse's arms. Shot for the
Albany Medical Center's 1977 annual report, the images have a beatific,
"Madonna and Child" quality.
As a baby, she
had rolled off a couch onto a boiling steam vaporizer. Melted
mentholated ointment scalded her skin. The burns would require many
reconstructive surgeries over the years.
The photos helped.
"Growing
up as a child, disfigured by the burns, I was bullied and picked on,
tormented," she said. "I'd look at those pictures and talk to her, even
though I didn't know who she was. I took comfort looking at this woman
who seemed so sincere, caring for me."
Scarpinati
now lives Athens, 25 miles south of Albany, and works as a human
resources manager. All her life, she wanted to thank the nurse who
showed her such loving care, but she didn't even know her name.
She
tried to find out 20 years ago, without success. The pictures were
taken by photographer Carl Howard, but his subjects weren't identified.
At a friend's urging, she tried again this month, posting the photos on Facebook and pleading for help.
"Within 12 hours, it had gone viral with 5,000 shares across the country," said Scarpinati.
She
had her answer within a day: The fresh-faced young nurse with the long
wavy hair was Susan Berger, then 21. Angela Leary, a fellow nurse at the
medical center back then, recognized her and sent Scarpinati a message,
saying Berger "was as sweet and caring as she looks in this picture."
Preserved
by the photos, their encounters in the pediatric recovery room turned
out to have a lasting impact on both their lives.
"I
remember her," Berger said before they met face to face on Tuesday.
"She was very peaceful. Usually when babies come out of surgery, they're
sleeping or crying. She was just so calm and trusting. It was amazing."
Berger
had been fresh out of college, and baby Amanda was one of her first
patients. Now she's nearing the end of her career, overseeing the health
center at Cazenovia College in New York's Finger Lakes region.
Both
women were thrilled to see each other again Tuesday, sobbing and
embracing as cameras clicked all around them in a medical center
conference room.
"Oh my God, you're real! Thank you!" Scarpinati said.
"Thank YOU!" Berger responded.
If
any scars remain, Scarpinati doesn't show them, from her long dark hair
to the butterfly tattoo just above her ankle. Berger also seems
youthful and upbeat, with shoulder-length blonde hair, slightly shorter
than how she wore it in 1977.
"I'm over the moon to meet Sue ... I never thought this day would come," Scarpinati said.
Berger said she feels even more blessed.
"I
don't know how many nurses would be lucky enough to have something like
this happen, to have someone remember you all that time," Berger said.
"I feel privileged to be the one to represent all the nurses who cared
for her over the years."
Someone asked if their reunion might be the start of a lifelong friendship.
Scarpinati had a quick answer to that: "It already has been a lifelong friendship. She just didn't know."
