Pregnant Woman Fatally Hit in Traffic, Baby Lives

(The Bronx, New York City) A seven months pregnant 33-year-old NYPD traffic agent, Donnette Sanz, was hit while crossing the street by a runaway van driven by 72-year-old Walter Walker. Then a school bus hit the van, pinning Sanz underneath.

Within seconds, more than two dozen strangers - from a nearby park, the busy sidewalk and a construction site - poured into the street to aid Sanz.

"Twenty of us started lifting up the bus - about 10 more came to help," said hardhat Madalina Diaz, 42, of Ardsley. "We didn't really communicate, we all just started lifting. We lifted it up and someone pulled her out.

"It's amazing that all those people came out and helped. It's good to see people still care."

Sanz was rushed into the St. Barnabas emergency room at 2:18 p.m. She survived the emergency delivery, and died at 4:22 p.m., a spokesman said.

The baby, named Sean Michael, is on a ventilator in neonatal intensive care. He was born weighing three pounds, six ounces and is expected to live.

Van driver Walter Walker is being held on charges of criminally negligent homicide. Notably, Walker has a history of trouble with the law, including 20 driver's license suspensions, menacing, harassment and grand larceny.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg went to the hospital to help comfort Sanz's family. He remarked, "I hope that as this child grows up, he comes to understand that his mother gave her life in service to our city, and we are forever grateful."