Albany Medical Center Nurse Meets Baby She Cared For

October 2, 2015

Decades ago a horrific accident happened to a three-month-old baby girl.

While left unattended, the baby rolled off a couch and landed onto a steam vaporizer that was blowing. The hot air scalded her skin and melted the mentholated ointment that was all over her body.

Over the years the baby went through multiple surgeries and was cared for by many doctor and nurses. However, one special nurse would forever have her heart.

The baby girl named Amanda Scarpinati was photographed at the hospital in the arms of a young nurse. The nurse appeared to be so connected to her, almost like a mother would be to their own baby. However, Scarpinati never knew who the loving nurse was.

“Growing up as a child, disfigured by the burns, I was bullied and picked on, tormented,” Scarpinati, now 38, told the AP. “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.”

After 20 years, Scarpinati began to try to locate the unidentified nurse but was unsuccessful.

But then she had a breakthrough…..Scarpinati posted the photo along with a short message on Facebook which read:

“I would love to know her name and possibly get a chance to talk to her and meet her,” Scarpinati wrote. “Please share as you never know who it could reach.”

After over 1,000 shares, someone responded with a lead.

A woman by the name of Angela Leary who was a nurse at Albany hospital came across the picture and recognized the woman holding the baby. Though she hadn’t spoken to the lady in nearly 35 years, she remembered everything about her kind heart.

“She was as sweet and caring as she looks in this picture,” Leary wrote in her message to Scarpinati. “She loved her job and caring for children and adults alike.”

Leary then passed on Berger’s info to a local news station, and they quickly tracked her down. Days later, Scarpinati spoke to Berger on the phone.

“In a million years I would have never guessed this would grow to be as big as it is or that I would in fact be able to put a name to the face that I looked at for all these years,” Scarpinati wrote on Facebook. “She’s just as sweet and caring as I could have imagined her to be.

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