Victim of severe burns tracks down loving nurse 38-years later

'I took comfort looking at this woman who seemed so sincere caring for me'

Amanda Scarpinati always turned to an old photograph of the unnamed nurse holding and comforting her after a surgery she underwent as an infant. To Scarpinati, the woman was a good and sincere "friend" through difficult times in her life, particularly when she was bullied for the scars left behind after an accident when she was only three-months-old. 

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Blaze reported black-and-white Madonna and Child-esque photographs of Scarpinati and the caring nurse -taken by photographer Carl Howard- were published at the annual report of the Albany Medical Center for 1977. However, the beautiful images and the report contained no names. 

Scarpinati held tight to the photographs and admitted she spoke to the woman who seemed to care so much for her. 

"Growing up as a child, disfigured by the burns, I was bullied and picked on, tormented. 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," said Scarpinati. She was just 3-months-old when she underwent surgery after falling from a couch onto a steam vaporizer on the floor, which caused her to be scalded with steam and melted mentholated ointment.

Scarpinati tried identifying the young nurse several times but for 20 years she continued to fail. It wasn't until she followed a friend's advice to post a photo of the nurse holding her on Facebook this September. Within 12 hours, nearly 5,000 people shared the post and the next morning it was on the local news. 

A former nurse at Albany Medical Center, Angela Leary, sent her a message informing Scarpinati the nurse is Susan Berger, who was now living in Syracuse. 

With the help of a local news reporter, Scarpinati tracked down Berger, who was now working at Cazenovia College in New York's Finger Lakes region, overseeing the health center. 

Scarpinati was able to call Berger on the phone. When asked how the conversation went, Scarpinati said, "It was amazing. She just has such a gentle, caring voice, just like I imagined she'd have." 
   
Berger was surprised to hear from her former patient who is now 38 and working as a human resource manager. She said she remember her as a calm and trusting baby.

"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. I feel privileged to be the one to represent all the nurses who cared for her over the years," Berger said.

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