Dierks, Ark.— For the first time since nearly dying of a gunshot wound seven months ago, Michael Glasgow came face-to-face with the men who saved his life.

Michael suffered heavy internal bleeding and damage to his kidney, spleen and liver when a .32-caliber Beretta pistol his best friend, Curtis Nutt, was handling went off June 23.

He was treated on the scene by medics from Howard County Ambulance Service before being airlifted by LifeNet to Children’s Medical Center in Little Rock.

Both crews were on hand, as was the LifeNet helicopter, at Dierks High School on Thursday afternoon to meet with Michael, Curtis and their mothers.

Michael laughed with his classmates as they waited on the fringe of the field in front of the school for the helicopter to arrive. He’s not quite at 100 percent—more like 90—but for all practical purposes, he’s back to normal.

He shrugged sheepishly when asked how it felt to be meeting the people who kept him from dying. He was less reticent about the foot-long scar that runs just to the left of his navel, which he lifted his shirt to showcase.

Whether it more closely resembles an inch-wide zipper, as Curtis said, or railroad tracks, as Michael’s mother, Missy Glasgow, contended, it looked like it was extremely painful.

As the helicopter came into view and the mechanical whir of its blades grew louder, Crystal Whisenhunt, Curtis’ mother, cringed.

Since arriving at the Glagow house that June afternoon, expecting to take her son to baseball practice but finding emergency crews treating his best friend’s wound, Whisenhunt’s heart beats faster at the sound of emergency sirens or helicopter blades.

“I know it’s a good thing, but it brings back memories,” she said.

When the helicopter landed, Michael, Curtis and their mothers moved across the field to greet the crew—the boys with uncertain handshakes, the moms with bear hugs.

Chris Janes, a paramedic who treated Michael while the helicopter was en route, remembered getting the call that a 13-year-old had been shot.

“In this business, you get these calls all the time, but when you get a kid, your whole mindset changes,” Janes said.

David Chreene, a member of the LifeNet helicopter crew, said it wasn’t all that different in Michael’s case.

“He may be young, but he’s the size of a young man,” he said.

The fact that Thursday’s reunion was possible is a testament to the effectiveness of the emergency medical response, Chreene said.

First responders with Dierks Volunteer Fire Department arrived two minutes after the 911 call and began treatment. The ambulance crew, stationed 20 miles away in Nashville, called LifeNet for a helicopter as soon as they were dispatched.

When the helicopter arrived, Michael was stabilized and ready for transport.

An hour and a half after the gunshot, Michael was in surgery, a remarkable time for transporting a patient from a rural area like Dierks to a Level I trauma center, Chreene said.

However it happened, Michael is happy it did. He sat in the helicopter and tried on one of the helmets, joking with Curtis almost constantly.

After a few minutes, school officials allowed the gathered student body to rush down the hill and throng around the helicopter. Many were wearing blue shirts from a July benefit to help with Michael’s medical bills.

The scene reminded Missy Glasgow of how the community rallied around her family after the shooting and continues to support them. She said she used to tell people she was from Dierks with a tired shrug. Now, she says it with pride.