Dying Woman's Unborn Baby Is Saved

Doctors saved a dying woman's unborn baby after she was hit by both a van and a school bus yesterday afternoon, authorities said.

Donnette Sanz, 33, a traffic enforcement agent employed by the police, was hit by a 1986 Dodge while on duty at an intersection in the Bronx. Sanz, who was eight months pregnant, was then thrown into the path of a school bus, according to a police report.

A volunteer ambulance rushed her to the Bronx's St. Barnabas Hospital, where doctors performed an emergency cesarean section, a spokesman for the hospital, Frederic Winters, said. The newborn boy weighed 3 pounds, 6 ounces at birth, he said.

"It was amazing," he added. "I handle these situations a lot, and I'm fairly jaded about it, but when I got the call, and they said the baby made it, I was very excited."

Sanz was pronounced dead soon afterward, at 4:22 p.m., and as of press time the baby was in critical condition, according to Mr. Winters.

Officers arrested the van's driver at the scene and found that he had around 20 prior suspensions on his record, a department spokeswoman said. He was subsequently taken into custody, she added.