Bystanders lift bus off accident victim.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)

New York City traffic agent Donnette Sanz was crossing a street in the Bronx on August 14, when she was struck by a van that pushed her in front of a five-ton bus. The bus came to a stop, pinning the woman underneath. Sanz was six months pregnant.

Residents sprang into action to rescue the woman, however. "I ran out of my house to join 10 people trying to lift up the bus," one rescuer, Cheryl Brown, told reporters. "At first, we couldn't get it up, so then another 10 people ran over to help, and we got the bus up and the lady out." It is estimated that 30 people finally joined the effort. Another rescuer, Madalina Diaz, told the New York Post: "We did not really communicate, we all just started lifting. We lifted it up and someone pulled her out."

Sanz was taken to nearby St. Barnabas Hospital, where doctors performed an emergency cesarean section and delivered a 3-pound, 6-ounce boy. Shortly after the delivery, Sanz was pronounced dead.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg met Sanz's husband, Rafael, at the hospital, and told the press: "It's a terrible poignancy that Donnette's son's birthday will now coincide with the day his mother died."

The Sanzes had already named their ...