A Queens mom jumped onto the subway tracks on Monday to save her baby daughter after the child’s stroller rolled off the platform onto the tracks when the woman turned for just a second to throw something away, authorities said.
The 39-year-old mom leaped into the rail bed at the Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer station at 11:30 a.m. and desperately tried to get the 2-year-old onto the platform before the next E train rumbled in.
“It’s every mother’s worst nightmare — what if a train was coming at that time?’’ a police source told The Post.
Some fellow riders followed the woman onto the tracks and were able to get both mother and baby out of harm’s way.
“[The mom] jumped down to get the [child] out. Other straphangers jumped down to get [them] out. The mother was in shock,’’ said an MTA worker at the scene.
Several workers at the other end of the platform thought there were still people on the tracks as the next train approached the station, and frantically tried to get the train operator’s attention.
“We took off our [reflective nylon] vests to flag down the train,’’ a female worker said.
“The train stopped, but the conductor didn’t see anyone on the tracks.’’
The baby didn’t cry until she and her mother were back on the platform, and the shaken mom finally broke down, witnesses said.
Workers and cops hailed the brave riders who saved the pair.
“The passengers who helped were heroes,’’ an MTA worker said. “They actually stayed to make sure the baby was all right. I saw the little girl. She had dirt all over her nose and cheek.’’
The police source added that the rescuers did “a really great job.”
The mother and child were taken to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where they were in stable condition, cops said.
The mother suffered a sprained ankle, and the baby had a bruised eye, officials said.
Additional reporting by Kate Sheehy