He said it was all thanks to the nurses who cared for him, and he wanted to properly thank them.
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At first it was a bit awkward.
"Do you guys remember me at all?" said Koraan Gatson, a former patient.
"No," the nurses said.
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO OF THE TOUCHING REUNION BELOW
Man surprises NICU nurses who cared for him
That's because Gatson was just a baby the last time they saw him.
"I was born here 19 years ago, and a lot of you guys took care of me for about three months," Gatson said.
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The reunion was captured only by Eyewitness News in the neonatal intensive care unit at Brookdale Hospital.
This was the first time Gatson, now a Navy medic, has been back since he was an infant.
The 19-year-old wanted to thank the team who took such good care of him, so he did, in his full uniform. He presented the nurses with flowers and a plaque.
"It didn't hit me until I walked in that all of these people took part in me essentially staying alive," Gatson said.
After looking at his baby album, it all came rushing back.
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Cheryl Coard was one of his nurses.
"It made me feel happy. Any time out babies come back, there's a joy in your heart," Coard said. "It does give you a feeling that what you're doing is worthwhile."
At birth, Gatson weighed just 2 pounds, 5 ounces, and spent three months in the NICU.
"He was born with a subdural hematoma bleeding on the brain, and it was something that you told yourself, my God if you can make this baby survive, that's all I want," said Nicole Francois, Gatson's mother.
She got that and so much more.
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