Model City Worker Gets a Hero’s Goodbye, Her Baby in Her Arms

James Estrin/The New York Times
A ceremonial flag was presented to Rafael Sanz at the funeral of his wife, Donnette Sanz, 33, and his infant son, Sean Michael Justin Sanz.

Model City Worker Gets a Hero’s Goodbye, Her Baby in Her Arms
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
Published: August 26, 2008
They are not typically eulogized with the same pomp and ceremony given to fallen police officers and firefighters. But on Monday, about 1,000 of the city’s 2,600 traffic agents turned out to honor a colleague, Donnette Sanz, and her infant son, who were mowed down in the Bronx 11 days ago.

Mourners filled the Community Protestant Church on East Gun Hill Road in the Baychester section of the Bronx and lined the streets outside, closing ranks with a woman they said exemplified the unheralded hazards and heroism of a profession that many New Yorkers regard with contempt.

“Anyone who ever witnessed the reaction of a New Yorker who finds a ticket on his car can appreciate just how hard it is for our traffic agents to keep their cool,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said. “But Donnette never had any problems in staying calm.”

Ms. Sanz, a 33-year-old Jamaican immigrant who had donated a kidney in 2004 to save her husband’s life, was run down on a lunch break on Aug. 14 at Webster Avenue and 188th Street. The police say she was struck by a van driven by a 72-year-old man with 21 suspensions and 3 revocations on his license.

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Donnette Sanz's infant son dies in hospital

Baby of pregnant woman hit by runaway van dies
Story Highlights
Baby born by Caesarean section after mom died in accident

Mother was a New York traffic agent

Baby's dad: "She never got to see our baby, but she was in love with him"

NEW YORK (AP) -- An infant boy delivered prematurely after his traffic agent mother was struck by a van and pinned under a bus has died, authorities said Friday.

Sean Michael Justin Sanz had been in intensive care since he was delivered by Caesarean section shortly after a runaway van hit his mother August 14. He weighed 3 pounds, 6 ounces at birth.

His mother, traffic agent Donnette Sanz, survived the delivery but died about an hour later in an emergency operating room. She was seven months pregnant.

The van, driven by a 72-year-old man with what authorities say is a long history of driving offenses, hit Sanz when she was crossing a Bronx street on her lunch break. The impact sent her flying into the path of a yellow school bus, which ran her over.

About 30 bystanders helped hoist the 5-ton bus from her body in a rescue that made the front pages of the city's tabloid newspapers.

"He meant everything to me," Rafael Sanz said of his tiny son. "He died in my arms."

Sanz had harsh words for the van's driver, Walter Walker: "I hope he really does rot in hell. I hope he dies a horrible death."

In an interview with the Daily News published hours before the infant's death, Rafael Sanz spoke about how his deep love for his son was mingled with grief over his wife's death. He said she had donated a kidney to him shortly before their wedding four years ago.
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NYC heroes lift bus off pregnant woman; baby lives

NYC heroes lift bus off pregnant woman; baby lives
By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer

Friday, August 15, 2008


(08-15) 14:59 PDT New York (AP) --

Dozens of strangers converged from all directions to lift a 5-ton bus off the body of a pregnant woman Friday — a superhuman effort that managed to save the life of her child but was too late for her.


Seven months pregnant, Donnette Sanz was crossing one of the busiest intersections in the Bronx on her lunch break when she was struck by a van whose brakes failed. The impact sent the 33-year-old NYPD traffic agent flying into the path of a yellow school bus and pinned her underneath.

About 30 people helped lift the bus, and Sanz was rushed to a hospital, where doctors delivered her boy by Caesarean section. The 3-pound, 6-ounce infant, named Sean Michael, was in critical condition Friday but showing signs of improvement.

"This is such an unbelievable tragedy that took place; it took away one of our own," said James Huntley, president of the union that represents traffic agents. "But I'm so thankful to the city of New York and to the citizens who came to her aid, like real heroes out of a comic book."

Mourners and neighborhood residents gathered outside the hospital to pray for Sanz and her child.
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