Elderly pedestrian killed when car jumps curb

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A family is in mourning after a beloved husband and father's split-second decision saved his wife's life but cost him his own.

The incident happened during a chain-reaction accident around 10:30 p.m. Saturday on the Upper East Side.

Denise and Rubin Baum met four decades ago while they were both hailing a cab and ended up getting the same one. That's what they were trying to do this weekend when things turned tragic.

"Within two seconds, my world disappeared," Denise Baum said.

The Baums were trying to hail a cab on Park Avenue and 59th Street when a two-car collision sent one of the vehicles flying right at them.

"Boom, I turned around," witness Terry Hill sad. "The car was coming. And it his the lady and the man on the corner."

The widow clutched her husband's medals from the Korean War as she recalled his last heroic act, pushing her out of harm's way.

"I believe that he shoved me, and I remember going in the air," she said.

Denise, 62, suffered bruises from head to toe, but 80-year-old Rubin was killed when the car ran directly over him.

The diehard Giants fan was a devoted husband and father of two. He received two Purple Hearts for his valor and heroism during the Korean War.

"He was a wonderful human being," son Shepherd Baum said. "He was a wonderful person, and a hero. His last act was to save my mom's life so I wouldn't lose both my parents."

Denise Baum said she will meet with detectives Monday.

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