Baby Survived Train Crash During Daring Rescue

June 10, 2009 — -- Two-year-old Mackale "Baby Mac" Partenfelder was still strapped into his car seat last month when a 94-car freight train crashed into the van, crumpling its frame, busting out the glass and sending it flying 35 feet down the track.

The baby's father, Scott Partenfelder, and local police officer John Krahn had been trying to rescue the baby and were seriously injured when the train struck. Baby Mac, on the other hand, was just fine.

"Not a scratch," the child's mother, Monica Partenfelder, told "Good Morning America" in an exclusive interview today. "Even days later, we looked for a bruise from the chest clip. It was absolutely nothing."

The Elm Grove, Wis., family had been driving toward its town's Memorial Day parade May 25, Baby Mac and his mother in the family van and Scott Partenfelder following in his truck with his two other children.

Then, just when his mother was crossing train tracks, traffic ground to a halt. Seconds later, the gates around the tracks dropped, trapping the van.

Standing nearby, Krahn looked on with horror, knowing the gates dropped only when a train was about 35 seconds from the intersection. He tried to signal Monica Partenfelder to step on the gas, but her wheels stuck and she only managed to turn her car toward the train.

"I couldn't believe this was happening," she told "GMA." "My main goal was to get us off the track. I was very determined. It was very surreal. I really couldn't believe there was a train coming right at us."

Krahn immediately ran toward the van, met by Scott Partenfelder, who got out of his own truck to help. They were able to get Monica Partenfelder out without much trouble.

"Once I got Monica out of the van, I kind of thought we were home free," Krahn said in a "GMA" interview today. "And, she said, 'My baby's still in the vehicle.' I looked over, saw the train coming toward us."