The daughter of Yankee legend Joe Torre made the catch of a lifetime in Brooklyn on Wednesday, saving a baby who got out of a window and then fell off a fire escape and into her arms.
Cristina Torre caught the 1-year-old baby after he fell from the fire escape on Third Avenue and 91st Street in Bay Ridge. She described the stunning chain of events to NBC 4 New York, recalling the moment when a man ran to the cupcake shop where she was having coffee, asking someone to call 911.
"I quickly got up and looked, and there was a baby kind of straddling the fire escape between the second and the third floor," she said.
Torre called 911 as she watched the infant, instinctively placing herself where she thought the baby could fall.
"All of a sudden it slipped, and it was dangling and holding on with its hands," she said.
Then the baby fell, slightly hitting an awning on the way down before landing in Torre's arms.
"I was still talking to 911 and I just put out my arms, and literally, it was effortless," she said. "It was meant to be. He landed in my arms."
Witnesses were in awe.
"I went over to her and I gave her a hug, and I said, 'You're a hero,'" said Kirsten Bramsen. "'If you hadn't caught the baby -- I don't even want to imagine.'"
Her proud father told NBC 4 New York at Yankee Stadium he "got goosebumps" when he learned of his daughter's heroic feat.
"The kids are our future and when you get a situation where the good Lord puts you in a position where you're there, and a child's life is in your hands, literally, it feels good to me. I know it did to her," said Joe Torre, now Major League Baseball's executive vice president of baseball operations.
Cristina Torre, a Montessori school teacher, said she was still in shock but was "thrilled" more than anything that the baby was alive and well.
"I hope parents learn from this," she said. "There have to be safety measures put in place to protect the children, because so quick that all this can happen."
Already, changes have been made. Wally Davis, the family pastor to the baby and his parents, has installed window guards.
"We're thankful that God put her here at the right second," he said. "We thank God for her."
Cristina Torre deflected praise from the bystanders who witnessed her courageous catch.
"It just came naturally as a teacher, to protect a child that was in danger," she said. "I work with kids every day, and I love them and I want to see them safe."
The baby was crying when he landed in Torre's arms but appeared only to be in pain from hitting his mouth on the way down, she said. Police say the child is in stable condition.
Police said the baby's parents -- Sam Miller, 23, and Tiffany Demitro, 24 -- were asleep when the toddler wandered to the window. They were arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and acting in a manner injurious to a child less than 17, police said.
The parents were in custody and unavailable for comment Wednesday. It was not immediately known if they had an attorney.
Photo Credit: NBC 4 New York/Family Handout