Chris Trokey weighed less than 1.5 kilograms when he was born with a 50 per cent chance of survival.
His paediatrician, Dr Michael Shannon, stayed with him around the clock, monitoring his progress until his condition stabilised.
Thirty years later, Dr Shannon was driving along a coastal stretch of southern California when his car was hit by a semi-trailer.
According to US news station KTLA 5, his car became pinned under the truck before catching fire.
Paramedics at the scene worked to extinguish the flames and cut him free. He would later spend 45 days in hospital and lose two toes in the accident, but he would live.
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But it wasn’t until paramedic Chris Trokey got to the hospital that he realised the life he’d just helped save was the same doctor who kept him alive, all those years ago.
“I didn’t know about it until I went to the hospital, and started talking about Dr Shannon,” he said.
“And I was like ‘Oh my gosh, Dr Shannon?’ That’s when I found out.”
The paediatrician was just as shocked.
“It’s amazing to watch them all grow up, but to have one come back in your life, on a day you really need it, that’s really incredible,” he said.
