--- title: Amanda Scarpinati and Susan Berger Reunite After 20 Years description: Scarpinati met the mystery nurse who cared for her when she was burned as an infant. canonical: https://time.com/4056170/amanda-scarpinati-susan-berger-nurse/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-30T17:39:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:56.891Z og:title: Woman Burned as Infant Reunites With Mystery Nurse Who Cared for Her og:description: "It Has Been a Lifelong Friendship" og:url: https://time.com/4056170/amanda-scarpinati-susan-berger-nurse/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73476144e4603c49/6988663a196cf49fe00384e6/susan-berger-amanda-scarpinati-albany-medical-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4770 og:image:height: 2683 og:image:alt: Nurse Susan Berger (L) and Amanda Scarpinati pose with a copy of a 1977 Albany Medical Center annual report during a news conference at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. on Sept. 29, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Woman Burned as Infant Reunites With Mystery Nurse Who Cared for Her twitter:description: "It Has Been a Lifelong Friendship" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73476144e4603c49/6988663a196cf49fe00384e6/susan-berger-amanda-scarpinati-albany-medical-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Woman Burned as Infant Reunites With Mystery Nurse Who Cared for Her > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Char Adams / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Char Adams / People Contributor Sep 30, 2015 5:39 PM UTC  Nurse Susan Berger (L) and Amanda Scarpinati pose with a copy of a 1977 Albany Medical Center annual report during a news conference at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. on Sept. 29, 2015. Nurse Susan Berger (L) and Amanda Scarpinati pose with a copy of a 1977 Albany Medical Center annual report during a news conference at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. on Sept. 29, 2015. Mike Groll—AP by [Char Adams / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Char Adams / People Contributor Sep 30, 2015 5:39 PM UTC For years, [Amanda Scarpinati](http://www.people.com/article/woman-burned-baby-nurse-photos) dreamed of meeting the woman who cared for her after she suffered severe burns as an infant. On Tuesday, that dream came true. “I’m over the moon … I never thought this day would come,” the 38-year-old told the [Associated Press](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FNURSE%5FPATIENT%5FREUNION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT). Scarpinati, of Athens, New York, was just 3 months old when she rolled onto a hot-steam vaporizer, leaving her with both terrible burns and years of ridicule due to her disfigurement. But it was photos of herself as a baby being cradled by a nurse that helped her get through her toughest times.  In this 1977 photo provided by Albany Medical Center, nurse Susan Berger cuddles infant Amanda Scarpinati, who had been severely burned by a steam vaporizer at home, in the pediatric unit at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. Carl Howard—Albany Medical Center via AP The heartwarming black and white photos, published in Albany Medical Center’s 1977 annual report, shows Scarpinati in the arms of a mystery nurse. “I’d look at those pictures and talk to her, even though I didn’t know who she was,” Scarpinati told the AP. “I took comfort looking at this woman who seemed so sincere, caring for me.” Scarpinati made an unsuccessful attempt to track the nurse down 20 years ago, she told [Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/moms-search-for-nurse-who-saved-her-as-a-baby-has-129363850457.html). But earlier this month, Scarpinati decided to try again, enlisting the help of [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/HugnKiss77/posts/10206679522682577?pnref=story) users. It worked. Scarpinati learned that the nurse is Susan Berger, who now oversees the health center at Cazenovia College in New York, the AP reports.  Nurse Susan Berger (L) and Amanda Scarpinati hug during a news conference at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. on Sept. 29, 2015. Mike Groll—AP After a brief phone call, the two met face-to-face on Tuesday at a news conference at Albany Medical Center – the place where it all started. “Oh my God, you’re real! Thank you!” Scarpinati said as the two embraced each other. Berger told [ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/woman-reunite-nurse-cared-burned-infant/story?id=34129745) that she was “stunned” to learn that Scarpinati had been looking for her. “I was just speechless and to think that someone would have thought about it all those years and to have saved the photo, as I did myself,” Berger said. “It’s just that reminder that you can make a difference,” she added. “You just have to remember to have that compassion every day.” As cameras flashed all around them at the conference, the two now have new photos to cherish. As for what the future holds for the women: “It already has been a lifelong friendship,” Scarpinati said. “She just didn’t know.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/baby-nurse-meet-reunite-burns-photos) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4056170/amanda-scarpinati-susan-berger-nurse/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4056170/amanda-scarpinati-susan-berger-nurse/"},"headline":"Woman Burned as Infant Reunites With Mystery Nurse Who Cared for Her","datePublished":"2015-09-30T17:39:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:46:56.891Z","description":"\"It Has Been a Lifelong Friendship\"","url":"https://time.com/4056170/amanda-scarpinati-susan-berger-nurse/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Appreciation","nursing"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73476144e4603c49/6988663a196cf49fe00384e6/susan-berger-amanda-scarpinati-albany-medical-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Char Adams / People"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73476144e4603c49/6988663a196cf49fe00384e6/susan-berger-amanda-scarpinati-albany-medical-center.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nurse Susan Berger (L) and Amanda Scarpinati pose with a copy of a 1977 Albany Medical Center annual report during a news conference at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. on Sept. 29, 2015.","caption":"Nurse Susan Berger (L) and Amanda Scarpinati pose with a copy of a 1977 Albany Medical Center annual report during a news conference at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. on Sept. 29, 2015.","creditText":"Mike Groll—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4056170/amanda-scarpinati-susan-berger-nurse/","name":"Woman Burned as Infant Reunites With Mystery Nurse Who Cared for Her"}}]}] ```