REUNION—Brett Halvorson and Nancy Reagan look at a photo of a 4-year-old Halvorson, his adopted sister and then-First Lady Reagan at the Reagan Library. The pair reunited more than 25 years after President and Mrs. Reagan brought Halvorson to the United States from South Korea for life-saving surgery. Members of the Conejo Valley Rotary Club heard a presentation April 29 from a young man whose life had been saved 26 years earlier with the help of former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

The man is now returning the favor by helping others gain a new lease on life.

Rotary's guest at the Plug Nickel restaurant in Westlake Village was Brett Halvorson, 30, who lives in Seattle.

During a 1983 diplomatic visit to South Korea, the Reagans brought Halvorson, then 4 years old and named Lee Kil Woo, and another child, both of whom needed heart surgery, back to the United States on Air Force One. At the time, South Korea did not have the ability to give Woo (Halvorson) the care he needed.

The surgery was provided by Gift of Life International, a nonprofit program run by Rotary clubs worldwide. Since its formation in 1975, the program has helped provide heart surgery to 10,000 children. Until Halvorson's much-publicized surgery, only about 100 children had been helped.

Although he was young, Halvorson recalls being aware that strangers were caring for him and loving him. "Thinking about that now, it really touches me," Halvorson said.

In appreciation to Reagan for saving his life, Halvorson raised the money needed to provide surgery for another child, an 11year-old Ugandan girl. Halvorson, who quit his insurance broker job in 2007 to work with Gift of Life full time as a global ambassador, is in South Korea this week where the girl, Jane Nanyombi, is undergoing surgery.

"It is heartwarming for me to be able to go there," Halvorson said. "I'm paying it forward."

In the audience at the Conejo Valley Rotary Club meeting was another heart surgery success story—7-year-old Delaney Small of Agoura Hills. Delaney's family established the Music for Heart Foundation after she had lifesaving heart surgery the age of 8 months. Music for Heart, which receives support from the Conejo Valley Rotary and Gift of Life, has provided heart surgery for 85 children.

"I thought his talk was really good," said Delaney about Halvorson. Her sister, Kylie, 10, and parents, Brenda and Craig, were also in attendance.

Halvorson said watching the news footage of himself is surreal. After their successful surgeries, Halvorson and the girl, Ahn Ji Sook, were both adopted by an Arizona family. Wanting to shield the children from the media, the family retained its privacy, and Halvorson lost touch with everyone involved in his surgery.

In 1989 the family moved to Seattle. In 2005 Halvorson began to wonder about his purpose in life and about his past. He wanted to thank the people involved with his surgery He thought Reagan would be the easiest person to locate first.

Through a retired New York Times reporter who had written a story about Halvorson's surgery years earlier, Halvorson found out about the Reagan Library in Simi Valley and wrote Reagan a letter. Several weeks later he received a call from her assistant inviting him to the library for the unveiling of a new wing.

The reunion took place in October 2007 at the library, where Halvorson saw the wallsized photo of himself and his adopted sister sitting on Reagan's lap before their surgeries.

"It was one of the great moments of my life to be able to thank her in person," Halvorson said.

A few days later Halvorson received a call from a man who said he was his biological cousin. Halvorson had never had contact with his biological family, so he flew to South Korea to meet the people of his past.

"My American parents had always told me 'Your parents gave you up so you could have a better life in America,'" Halvorson said. "My biological parents were very poor and sacrificed a lot for me. They kept the same phone number in case I ever came back."

Halvorson also reunited with his surgeons and with Harriett Hodges, an American whose husband was stationed with the U.S. military in South Korea. Hodges worked with Gift of Life and had contacted Reagan about the children.

"All of these reunions happened within two months of each other in 2007," Halvorson said.

The meetings inspired Halvorson to leave his job and work with Gift of Life full time as an ambassador.

"I believe everything happens for a reason. It's as if God had a destiny for me," Halvorson said. "I feel I've been so blessed physically and spiritually. I feel this is my calling. I'm excited about our organization and hope we can save many more lives."