00:00This morning, two New York women are reunited for the very first time in nearly 40 years.
00:04This picture, taken back in 1977, there it is, shows a nurse cradling a badly burned infant
00:09at an Albany hospital.
00:11Well, the patient recovered and spent years searching for her mystery caretaker.
00:15Yesterday, these two women were reunited in Albany.
00:18Michelle Miller shows us how the pair found each other.
00:21Michelle, I love this story. Good morning.
00:23I love it too. Good morning.
00:25Both women had treasured that black and white photograph for years,
00:28wondering if they would ever meet again.
00:31Well, after one of them posted it to Facebook last week, they got their answer.
00:38These women aren't long-lost relatives or friends.
00:44They don't even know each other.
00:46But they did meet once, captured on film 38 years ago in a hospital recovery room.
00:53People would ask me, is that your mother?
00:55I'm like, no, it's actually a nurse, and I don't know who she is.
00:59That woman was Sue Berger, a 21-year-old recovery room nurse at Albany Medical Center.
01:05The three-month-old in her arms, a third-degree burn patient fresh out of surgery,
01:10named Amanda Scarpinati.
01:12She was so good, and I know I held her for a long time.
01:17Were you mesmerized?
01:17I mean, it sounds the way you describe it.
01:20You sound like you were smitten.
01:23I was smitten.
01:24I was quite smitten.
01:25Scarpinati had been accidentally scalded by a hot steam vaporizer.
01:30For Berger, a nurse who had likely seen thousands of patients on a busy ward,
01:34this one stuck with her.
01:36You never forgot her.
01:37I did not, no.
01:40No, I didn't.
01:41I remember how calm and trusting she was, and it was unusual, actually, for a baby so tiny
01:48coming out of surgery, she must have been in pain.
01:52That pain lasted for years, through countless skin grafts and surgeries,
01:57and through taunts from schoolyard bullies over her scars.
02:01Yet one thing got her through it all.
02:03For some reason, when I would look at those pictures, it would just, it would comfort me
02:09somehow, and you see the bond.
02:12It just doesn't happen, you know.
02:14I was constantly, you know, looking at it.
02:17Turns out Scarpinati has been searching for that nurse for nearly two decades.
02:22Two weeks ago, she searched again, this time employing the help of social media.
02:28Oh, yay!
02:29Less than 24 hours later, the mystery was solved.
02:34I went to bed and woke up to a whirlwind.
02:37By the time I made it into work, 9 o'clock in the morning, my co-workers go,
02:42oh my God, you're on the news.
02:44Berger's former colleague, Angela Perry, saw the reports and recognized her by the pearl earrings.
02:50She messaged Scarpinati almost immediately.
02:52I said, I believe she moved to the Syracuse area, and I said, I know her husband's name
02:58is Ron.
02:59Those are the things I could remember.
03:02So, next thing I knew, they found her.
03:05Nearly 40 years later, a reunion at the same place where the women first met.
03:10Oh my God, you're real.
03:12When you looked into each other's eyes today, what were you thinking?
03:16I said, I just wanted to hug her.
03:18That's all I kept thinking.
03:18I just want to hug her.
03:21For me, the room went dark, and there was just Amanda.
03:26And we should note, those pictures were shot by photographer Carl Howard for Albany Medical
03:31Center's annual report.
03:33After I interviewed the two women, they went to dinner together for some catching up.
03:38They say they're going to be lifelong friends.
03:39I can tell.
03:40That was such a great hug that they gave Michelle.
03:42A chance picture.
03:45You know, for an annual report, the photographer was in the emergency room.
03:49They're doing the Hoolaid Facebook, just an example of how that can work in a good way.
03:53A nice way to recognize nurses who do so much.
03:56Absolutely.
03:57Absolutely.
03:58Exactly right.
03:58Thank you, Michelle, for that great story.
04:00Thank you.
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