WORCESTER, Mass. - A Worcester man reunited Monday with the caregivers at UMass Memorial Medical Center who saved his life.

Two weeks ago, Irineo Benitez's wife called the hospital's patient access center to schedule an appointment. During the call, the scheduler realized the call was more serious as she learned that Benitez was experiencing chest pain. The call was transferred to a nurse who said he needed an ambulance immediately.

Vascular surgery residents ordered rapid CT scans and found Benitez had a life-threatening rupture of his thoracic aorta. He underwent a successful repair surgery and is now feeling better.

"I am feeling very well," Benitez said through an interpreter. "They gave me some medication to try and help me with the pain. I am very grateful to everyone here at the hospital, everyone who helped me out."

The staff said they're so happy to see Benitez feeling better and moving around.

"I was like, I just want to know how he was," said Nancy Amaya, who answered the initial phone call. "The whole day I was thinking about him. I work all day in the central scheduling office and I was thinking about it all day and if everything went fine and how everything went. And when I got an email saying he is great and is actually moving faster after surgery I felt so so relieved actually."

"It was great to see him and be able to talk to him, knowing that he is doing well and seeing his daughter be so happy," nurse Fay Simmarano said.

Benitez had been at the emergency room five days prior for pain and also has a history of an aneurysm. The care team said he's lucky to be alive.