Amanda Scarpinati will finally meet with a nurse who comforted her 40 years ago

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Amanda Scarpinati, 38, suffered horrific burns from a vaporizer
She was pictured being comforted by nurse Susan Berger after surgery
Scarpinati, who is from New York, tried to find the nurse for 20 years
Thanks to a viral Facebook appeal the pair will finally meet again today

Published: 04:24 EST, 29 September 2015 | Updated: 11:01 EST, 29 September 2015

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A woman who suffered severe burns as a baby is today set to meet the nurse who cared for her almost 38 years ago thanks to a Facebook appeal.

Amanda Scarpinati, from upstate New York, says she has always treasured the black-and-white pictures of herself as an infant being comforted by a young nurse, which were published in an annual report by Albany Medical Center in 1977.

For 20 years, Ms Scarpinati, 38, a human resources manager has searched for the nurse, whose name wasn't published on the pictures, so she could thank her for all the care she gave her.

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Nurse Susan Berger comforts Amanda Scarpinati when she was a baby. For 20 years Ms Scarpinati has been searching to try to find the nurse comforting her in the picture

'It’s the nurses who are there comforting you, and here I am, this tiny infant, she’s just staring at me and smiling and I wasn’t crying in any of those pictures, so that says a lot,” she told News 10.

Earlier this month Scarpinati posted the pictures to Facebook but doubted her plea would help put a name to the nurse's face.

But within 12 hours, the picture had gone viral and Angela Leary, a former nurse at Albany Medical Center, sent Scarpinati a message saying the nurse in the photo is Susan Berger, who had moved to the Syracuse area years ago.

A local television reporter tracked down Ms Berger, who now oversees the health center at Cazenovia College in New York's Finger Lakes region.

The pair have now talked on the phone and plan to meet in person today for the first time since the picture was taken.

Baby Amanda Scarpinati was pictured with nurse Susan Berger in a series of pictures for Albany Medical Centre's annual report in 1977

Earlier this month, Ms Scarpinati put out an appeal on Facebook (above) to track down the nurse

Ms Scarpinati, who has a 12-year-old son, said: 'It was amazing. She just has such a gentle caring voice, just like I imagined she'd have.

'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.'

Ms Scarpinati was just three months old when she suffered severe burns to her head and fingers.

She had been lying on a couch with a steam vapourizer on the floor beside her when she rolled off onto the boiling machine.

Amanda Scarpinati (above) will meet with Ms Berger on Tuesday after the pair were put in touch

It scaled her with steam and mentholated ointment and the burns required many years of reconstructive surgery.

Ms Berger was just 21 at the time, and was just out of college when she was working in the paediatric recovery room at Albany Medical Center.

In the pictures, she has long, wavy hair pulled back off her face while wearing a white nurse's dress with puffy sleeves.

Baby Amanda, her head wrapped in thick gauze gazes intently into the nurse's eyes.

Ms Berger said: 'I remember her. She was very peaceful. Usually when babies come out of surgery they're sleeping or crying. She was just so calm and trusting. It was amazing.

'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.'