Mom saves infant after being struck by livery cab in the Bronx

NEW YORK

Amazingly, both suffered only minor injuries.

The incident happened on Prospect Avenue in the Bronx just before 1 p.m. Tuesday.

"If I didn't pull myself and her a little bit back it would have crashed into us and the store," Alondra Gervacio said.

She fully understands she and her precious little baby are lucky to be alive. The 17-year-old can't bear to watch the chilling surveillance video that captured an out-of-control livery cab on Tuesday barreling into her and her 8-month old daughter Perla.

"I was putting her in the stroller and when I lifted my head up I saw the car coming. I'm like 'Oh my God.' I tried to push her on the side but I couldn't," she said.

The teen was on her to way to a final exam at her high school when the livery cab driver suffered a heart attack, lost consciousness and hopped the curb at Prospect Avenue in Longwood.

Gervacio told us she felt no pain after the car slammed into her. All she thought about was her baby.

"She fell out of the stroller. She was below the car," she explained.

The high school sophomore and little Perla were rushed to Lincoln Hospital. The teenage mom has pain on her left side. As for her baby:

"They took x-rays all over and of her head. But she's all OK. She just has scratches on her head and on her hand. And that's it," Gervacio said.

Dr. Rachel Rosansky, who works at Montefiore Hospital, happened to be at the intersection of Prospect and Westchester Avenues at the time. She said the driver was slumped over the wheel well before the crash, and she rushed over to help.

"We felt the impact," she said. "I couldn't really find a pulse, but he was still breathing a little bit."

The livery cab driver was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

"He's a nice responsible driver, never do anything, always responsible," said George Martinez, livery owner.

No other injuries were reported.

This story was reported by KTRK-TV's sister station, WABC-TV in New York.

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