(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A Colorado Springs family is hoping to find a special stranger who forever changed their lives.

It all happened at Memorial North Hospital in Colorado Springs five years ago to the day. A stranger in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) made a mark on Nicole and Anthony Halls’ lives, that still lasts five years later.

“He thought that for the rest of our son’s life that he would have to tell the story of how he got his scar. And it was from the day that his mom died. So it’s always hard to see that and to hear that because that definitely could have been our reality. We both could have died or one of the other,” said Nicole.

Nicole’s heart stopped for seven minutes during the birth of their third baby.

“And I remember just dropping to my knees and crying because I was on one hand so excited and happy that we had our boy. But on the other hand, I didn’t have my wife there to share that joy, to share that experience with,” said Anthony.

Nicole had a rare birth complication called an amniotic fluid embolism.

“The amniotic fluid gets into the mom’s bloodstream and causes an anaphylactic reaction. Like 60% of moms die off in the first hour. Your heart stops completely and then they’re doing chest compressions,” said Nicole.

“And she said she’s gone. She’s expired. She just kept saying that over and over again. And I just looked at her and I said, you mean she’s dead? She was just here,” said Anthony.

“She was just completely fine; going through the normal process that we have gone through multiple times and nothing was wrong. She was very healthy.”

The kindness of a stranger would lift Anthony up and give him the strength to get through the hardest moments of his life.

“I just remember being there on the ground, just my hands and my face just bawling. And all of a sudden I feel myself being lifted up off the ground,” said Anthony.

“The only way I could feel any type of strength is from this man that first gave me that courage. I remember him just saying, it’s going to be okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”

“He obviously does not know the tremendous impact that he had that day since I couldn’t be there. Especially while his wife was in there holding their baby, he was holding my husband,” said Nicole.

After a postmortem C-section, their son survived. And soon, Nicole had a pulse too. It would be four days before holding her baby.

Nicole, also spoke of the importance of blood donations, something that saved her life after that scary day.

“It was amazing. Just so happy just to see her expression. And I know that’s what she just wanted so bad was to hold him,” said Anthony.

“It was a miracle. I just felt like, wow, we survived a miracle. I hug them longer every time, and I’m just so thankful,” said Nicole.

Haxton is now turning five. He’s healthy and having a blast with his two older sisters.

And, the stranger in the NICU unit on Feb. 13, 2018, is part of this miraculous story, even if he doesn’t know it.

That’s why the family hopes to reconnect with him, simply to return the hug which carried their family through the hardest moment of their lives.

Click here to connect with Nicole and her organization, called Before You Push, aimed to educate people about birth trauma and what to be aware of.

“This is a part of our story that really we’ve kept between me and him for these whole five years. But since Covid is over, we thought we may have a shot at finding this guy and just pouring our love and gratefulness to him and his family,” said Nicole.