A 53-year-old New York woman, who jumped onto subway tracks in attempt to retrieve her gym bag, was struck and killed by a train in front of a crowd of horrified straphangers.

Eyewitnesses said Rose Mankos made the fatal decision around 3:45 p.m. Thursday at the 77^th Street Subway Station in NYC.

Mankos lost her life after her nylon LeSportsac bag filled with exercise clothes, toiletries and her cell phone fell on the Upper East Side subway tracks.

Witnesses said as the number 6 train approached her, “she tried to go under the platform….then she tried to climb onto the platform, but she couldn’t do that.  Then she just froze,” said eyewitness Alfonso McGruder.

“She had one choice to make and seconds to make it.  She didn’t make the one that would have saved her life….I think she just went into shock knowing that the train was seconds from hitting her,” McGruder continued.

Witnesses said the train operator sounded his horn eight times and attempted to brake.

Authorities said Mankos died immediately after being struck by the train.

A spokesperson for NYC Transit released a statement to straphangers saying “The message to our customers is clear: If you drop something on the tracks, do not attempt to retrieve it.  Alert a transit employee or a police officer.”