Peter Heathwood was convinced he was going to die after being shot in his own home.
While living in Belfast in 1979, the young father-of-three was attacked by two gunmen in a tragic case of mistaken identity - as they falsely believed he was a member of the IRA.
After bravely fighting back against the men who broke into his house, they opened fire through a door and Peter collapsed onto the floor in a pool of blood.
Ambulance crews couldn't get the right equipment into the room so they carried Peter out in a body bag, leading his devastated father who feared his son had died to himself drop dead in the street.
Thankfully Peter survived but his horrifying ordeal continued as he was unable to walk again and strapped in a painful 'coffin-like' rotating bed in hospital for almost a year.
During his time in rehabilitation, Peter was supported by a nurse called Betsy, who he refers to as his "angel" and is desperate to be reunited with.
Peter, who is now a great-grandfather, was attacked 40 years ago during a heightened period of violence in The Troubles.
A Belfast boy born and raised, Peter's first memory of conflict is internment in August 1971, where hundreds of Catholics and nationalists were arrested and imprisoned without trial in a series of dawn raids by British troops, provoking resistance across Northern Ireland.
The real "eye-opener" for Peter was the Bloody Sunday massacre in January 1972 when British soldiers shot 26 civilians during a protest march against internment.
"That did have a massive effect. I became aware within my generation, boys I was going to school with were going into the IRA. I was annoyed, but I didn't go down that road. Thankfully, but I know guys who did," explains Peter on BBC Two show Saved By A Stranger.
While Northern Ireland was gripped by violent conflict, Peter decided to buy a house in the northern part of Belfast because it was cheaper despite being warned by his father it was dangerous.
Peter, wife Anne and their three kids were living in the epicentre of the "war zone" in an area known as the "murder triangle" because it was a patchwork of tribal territories living side by side.
He rented out one of the rooms to a taxi driver, who he described as a "quiet" man, then just a month later the violence came to his door.
On September 27th, 1979, the doorbell rang and Peter heard his wife scream "gunmen, gunmen".
"I jumped up but was in a back room and there was no way out of it. There was one door in and one door out," he explains.
"I got behind the door. This gunman had her [Anne] by the hair, he pulled her into the room with his right hand.
"At the last minute he's seen me. He let Anne go and I pulled Anne in and whacked him with the door. He went back out into the hall I put my body against the door and slid a bar in the door.
"But there was a second gunman in the hall and he opened fire through the door."
The impact was so intense that Peter was lifted off his feet and when he tried to get back up he could not move then passed out.
"The ambulance crew arrived but couldn't get the trolley into the back room so they put me in a body bag to carry me to the ambulance," says Peter.
"At that point my father in the car and other family members arrived at the front door. Daddy seeing me in the body bag thought I was dead. And his last words were, 'Oh, my poor Peter' and he dropped dead in the street."
Unknown to Peter, his taxi driver lodger was a suspected member of the IRA and was the intended target of the attack, but they had opened fire on the first male they saw.
Peter barely remembers the next three weeks as his body weight went down to seven stone and he was transferred to Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast.
He spent almost a year in the spinal injuries ward confined for hours at a time strapped in an agonising rotating bed to stop bone lying on one particular part of the skin.
"I always put it down to being like a coffin," says Peter, who only had his own thoughts for company and feared he may die.
"You know you're stuck in a coffin. And you can imagine lying in the hospital.
"All that time and loneliness and at night, you didn't sleep at night because of the sweating and uncomfortableness of it."
However, his saving grace in hospital was a nurse named Betsy, who would sit by his side, mop his brow and make him feel valued at a time when he was at his lowest ebb.
"When I was in the rotary bed. If I opened my eyes it seemed to be Betsy was standing there, and with a cold cloth wiped the sweat on my forehead and talked to me and it was just like an angel from heaven," explains Peter.
"When you're in that half drugged state she could well have been an angel for all I knew.
"It always stood out to me, her kindness. Made me feel not completely useless or busted you know. And I never got to say thank you to her because when I left I was glad to get out of the place."
Peter remembers fellow injured patients in the ward who wanted to end their lives because of the suffering.
He says: "I do know cases who were sin the ward who tried to take their own life because of the depression and loneliness. Betsy was a lovely a nurse who lifted your spirits in the bleaker moments."
His wife Anne suffered from PTSD after the attack in Belfast and tragically died at the age of 51, which he describes as worse than losing his legs.
With Peter determined to thank Betsy for what she did for him, the Saved By A Stranger team track down a man who worked in the same hospital who still speaks to a nurse who worked with Besty.
Presenter Anita Rani discovers that her maiden name was Gilbert, Betsy was short for Elizabeth, and she later became a mental health nurse in Downpatrick, a small town six miles south of Belfast.
Peter and Betsy are finally reunited after 40 years and have a massive hug, with Peter telling her: "Longtime no see".
Amazed that they only live six miles apart, Peter admits he is surprised to remember him due to the amount of patients he must have had.
Betsy replies: "No I remember you. I always remembered you."
Looking back at his time in hospital, Peter recalls sweating a lot but Betsy always being on hand with a cold cloth.
He says: "You took the time to stand and smile at me and that image - it was a very bleak time in my life, depression, I could have died and it wouldn't have annoyed me.
"All of a sudden there's this smiling nurse with blonde hair, we used to call you little Doris Day."
Peter confesses that his biggest regret is not saying goodbye to Betsy when he left the hospital.
" I wanted to get out of that place that quick and that has bugged me for years, that wee girl looked after you and you never ever said thanks," he says.
Betsy replies: "You've done well yourself, it's lovely to hear. Great to hear your story."
Stating that he's alive and not unhappy, Peter explains to Betsy just how much she helped him during his darkest times.
He says: "Even though what I've been through. In all that bad time and horror, your smiling face stands out. I'm telling you now I can still see it. And just that simple bit of kindness.'
Betsy replies: "It's so nice that somebody thought that much to want to meet you again and say 'thank you'.
"That's really special. It's an inspiration to see how he has survived and grown out of it all, it's lovely."
Discussing their reunion, Peter says Betsy is still a lovely woman and has the same smile he remembers from 40 years ago.
He adds: "In times of murder and mayhem, when you meet people like that you realise that not everybody is bad. There are still always good people in this world and Betsy is one of them."
*Saved By A Stranger airs Thursdays on BBC Two at 9pm
