Mom: Subway Conductor Ignored Screams As Train Pulled Away With Small Son

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's a mother's nightmare: the subway car's doors slam shut, her son is on the train and she's watching helplessly from the platform.

It's a terrifying story of a mom who was separated from her son, even as she yelled for the conductor to stop.

Picking up her two children at school, Lisa Rice said Tuesday remembers a recent subway ride home when she had the fright of her life, being separated from 7-year-old Liam.

"And I was terrified that I wasn't going to see him again and he was going to encounter something that would hurt him," Rice said.

It was on a "G" train platform near Prospect Park where Rice was holding the hands of her two boys. She said Liam got onto the train first, as the door was closing on their hands.

"And I saw the door close and my hand in the doorway and I was looking and said 'Oh my God, I'm going to get my hand caught in the door and be dragged,' so I let go and the doors closed and he was terrified," Rice said.

Rice said she called to her son, and beat on the train.

"As it was pulling out the conductor's window was still open and I screamed, 'My son, my son, my son! You have my son!' and he closed the window and the train continued to pull out," Rice said.

She said she ran to the token booth to report it, and on the train, her son Liam did as she had instructed him before.

"He said he looked for a parent with children and they got off at Fort Hamilton Parkway," Rice said.

Liam Rice told Slattery he went straight over to "a person with kids."

An anonymous parent with children held the child for police. Lisa Rice said she's forever indebted to that parent.

"Thank you so much for taking the time. I'm forever grateful for making sure that that little boy you didn't know is safe," she said.

It's certainly a lesson for parents of young children. Have a plan for what to do in case you get separated.

The mother and her son were reunited after about 45 minutes. A spokesman for New York City Transit said it is investigating the identity of the conductor.

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