Woo was 4 years old when Reagan arranged for him and Ahn Ji Sook, 7, to come to the U.S. from South Korea to undergo lifesaving heart surgeries. The children arrived on Air Force One in November 1983 and were greeted on the White House lawn by Reagan.

Since their successful surgeries, Woo and Sook, who are not blood relatives, were adopted by an American family in Arizona and renamed Brett and Diana Halvorson.

Two years ago, Brett Halvorson, now a 28-year-old Washington state insurance broker, decided he wanted to thank Reagan for her kindness. Halvorson tracked down a retired New York Times editor who wrote a story about him in the early 1980s and was eventually able to reach the former first lady’s assistant.

Halvorson wrote Reagan a letter, which led to an invitation to meet her at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Friday, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported.

Reagan greeted Halvorson in front of a large photo of her hugging him and Diana as children. She shook his hand and remarked on how tall he’d gotten since their last meeting over two decades ago.

“I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it,” Reagan said when she spotted Halvorson.

Halvorson and his sister came to the U.S. for their operations through the Gift of Life program, a New York nonprofit that provides lifesaving heart surgeries to kids worldwide. The charity asked Reagan, who was on a diplomatic trip with the president, for help with the arrangements.

Halvorson said when he finally got to thank Reagan, he became teary eyed.

“She’s my hero,” he said. “I realize now she did a great thing for me.”

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