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Mother Saves Baby After Taxi Slams Into Them

Mother Saves Baby After Taxi Slams Into Them

A mother managed to pull her baby daughter out from under a taxi after they were both struck by the vehicle in an accident captured on video.

Alondra Gervacio, 17, and eight-month-old Perla were on their way to school for the teenager's final exam when the car driver reportedly had a heart attack and lost consciousness - and the car mounted the pavement.

CCTV footage showed the pair being hit by the taxi, which then smashed into the front of a shop in the Bronx, New York.

The baby was knocked out of her buggy and ended up underneath the vehicle. Ms Gervacio immediately rushed to the car and managed to pull her free.

She said she felt no pain after the car slammed into her, and could think only of her child.

Both mother and daughter suffered only minor injuries but the driver was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital.

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

She believes she and her baby are lucky to be alive and she cannot bear to watch the footage.

"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," the young mother said.

"She fell out of the stroller. She was below the car."

The student at Jane Adams High School and little Perla were taken to Lincoln Hospital. The teenager has pain on her left side.

Speaking about her baby's condition, she told WABC: "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."

Dr Rachel Rosansky, who works at Montefiore Hospital, was near the scene at the time of the accident.

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."

George Martinez, the cab firm's owner, said: "He's a nice responsible driver, never do anything, always responsible."