Dr. Michael Shannon knew the odds were stacked against the sickly, 3-pound, 2-ounce preemie Chris Trokey but, still, Shannon camped out at Mission Hospital to help the tiny baby fight for his life.

During those critical hours, he never imagined that same baby would grow up and return the favor. But 30 years later, when Dr. Shannon's Chevrolet Suburban slammed into a truck stopped on Pacific Coast Highway one early morning in 2011, trapping him in the wreckage and catching him on fire, it was a strong and healthy Trokey who came to the rescue.

Recently reunited to raise money for St. Baldrick's Foundation to fight childhood cancer, it dawned on them just how intertwined their lives are. "What are the odds? I can't imagine," said Trokey, now a paramedic with the Orange County Fire Authority. "I don't think he realizes how lucky he was. Any other night, and we wouldn't have gotten to him in time."

The crew at Station 29 had been busy all night with call after call, recalled Trokey. "That night was pretty crazy, and we were just pulling back into the station at 4:30 in the morning when the call came in," he said.

Had the firefighters been in bed or out on another call, they couldn't have gotten to Dr. Shannon in time.

"You pulled up, and you could just tell it's something bad," said Trokey. "It's one of those calls that stands out because it doesn't happen very often."