What started in an emergency delivery room in 1972 turned into a bond that has lasted more than 50 years.

Retired nurse June LaJeunesse saved Carole Flynn’s life as a newborn after doctors believed the baby was stillborn, according to NBC10 Boston.

Carole’s mother, Cheryl Flynn, told the outlet she unexpectedly went into labor on Sept. 30, 1972, months early.

“I started having pains in my stomach and I’m like ‘Well, this can’t be. I can’t be having her,’ “ Cheryl told the outlet. “I was only five months.”

After Cheryl gave birth, doctors told her it was probably a “stillbirth.” LaJeunesse then tried something she had never done before and attempted to restore life to the baby.

“I resuscitated her, and when the doctor came in, I said, she’s breathing, and he said, she is,” June recalled of the moment.

Cheryl said her daughter weighed 0.77 kilograms at birth.

“She weighed a pound, 11 ounces, and I was just thrilled that I had this beautiful baby girl,” Cheryl said.

The story of Carole’s delivery and recovery later ran in a local newspaper. After reading it, LaJeunesse reached out to the Flynn family, starting a relationship that stayed strong through cross-country moves, retirement and decades of life changes.

LaJeunesse became Carole’s godmother, and the family stayed close.

Thinking about her birth story and LaJeunesse’s role in it still affects Carole.

“I always just know I’m loved,” she told the outlet. “There’s nothing better than that.”

Now Carole works in the same medical system where LaJeunesse once worked.

“I work at UMass Memorial in the same system where June was working, and it’ll be 10 years in October,” she said.

LaJeunesse is now 95 and living in a nursing home.

“When I came to the nursing home, they took over and took care of me,” June shared.

For Cheryl, the relationship has also shaped how she sees nurses.

“Nurses are like angels sent down from God to take care of us,” she said.

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