Burn victim finds heroic nurse almost 40 years later

Amanda Scarpinati doesn’t remember being burned as an infant, but she’s always had the scars to remind her.

“Growing up as a child, disfigured by the burns, I was bullied and picked on, tormented,” she told the Associated Press.

At only three months old, Scarpinati rolled off the couch onto a boiling steam vaporizer. The medicated ointment she was wearing at the time helped cause the severe burns that covered much of the child’s body.

While she didn’t have any memory of her time at Albany Medical Centre, where she was treated for her injuries in 1977, she said she always felt a connection to one nurse in particular.

In fact, one nurse was photographed swaddling and cradling the three month old Scarpinati, a tiny figure with gauze covering most of her head.

“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 said.

Scarpinati, now 38, has been looking for the mystery nurse for years. Twenty years ago, she contacted the man who had taken the photograph, Carl Howard, but his subjects were never identified.

At the suggestion of a friend, she decided to take her chances on social media, posting the photos on Facebook.

"Within 12 hours, it had gone viral with 5,000 shares across the country,” said Scarpinati.

Within 24 hours, the angelic nurse had been identified.

Angela Leary, a fellow nurse, recognized fresh faced, 21-year-old Susan Berger from their years working together. She sent Scarpinati a message.

Berger was thrilled to have been tracked down. At 21, she was straight out of college and Scarpinati was one of her first patients. It turns out, Berger had valued the same photograph as well, often thinking of the child over the years.

At their face to face meeting, Berger recognized the woman she had gently cared for as an infant.

“She was very peaceful. Usually when babies come out of surgery, they’re sleeping or crying,” recounted Berman. “She was just so calm and trusting. It was amazing.”

“I’m over the moon to meet Sue … I never thought this day would come,” Scarpinati said.

The women say they have been lifelong friends, but now that they know each others names, they can become even closer.