NYPD gives bike to Harlem girl who was shot by stray gang bullet

A brave 8-year-old Manhattan girl was honored by the NYPD Friday, almost eight months to the day after she was caught in the crosshairs of two gun-toting teenage gangbangers.

Little Fatou Keita was all smiles when cops gifted her her very first bicycle inside the Shomburg Center for Research and Black Culture in Harlem — but broke down in tears when she was reunited with the two officers who saved her life on the November day she was shot in the abdomen.

“Thank God she’s here with me. That’s the best award, right?” her mother, Fatoumata Keita, told The Post.

Fatou has made a full recovery since the disturbing incident on a Harlem street back in November, which sent shockwaves through the city.

The 8-year-old was enjoying a slice of pizza with her family after running an errand to get her glasses fixed when a stray bullet ripped through her torso.

The wound perforated Fatou’s stomach, diaphragm and colon.

Officers from the 32nd Precinct, Marta Cielepa and Joanna Vanegas, rushed to her aid, with an NYPD sergeant specifically asking Vanegas, who had 19 years of experience as an EMT, to help at the scene.

“I’m thinking, ‘Okay, this is really bad. This is critical, this is medical … If she’s calling me, this is something that’s really critical,’” Vanegas recalled in an interview with The Post.

The officers did their best to keep Fatou calm by asking her about her day and assuring her that she would be okay, but they quickly realized they needed to put her in the squad car and rush her to the hospital, where she was taken in for emergency surgery.

“We were calling multiple times to ‘rush the bus, rush the bus, rush the bus’ — and no answer. So we said, ‘Let’s just take her. She’ll get there quicker,” Vanegas, of Westchester, said, using EMT speak for ambulance.

“The adrenaline was pumping. I am not going to lie, the adrenaline was pumping. It’s a scary moment for us, not only for the victim, but for us also, because we wanted to make sure that she gets the proper care.”

Cops said the slug came from True Womack, 17, and Daniel Idowu, 19, who allegedly fired nine times in an attempt to strike a rival gang member. The pair only succeeded in wounding the young girl.

The alleged assailants ditched the gun and their clothes in a futile attempt to escape, but were nabbed within minutes of the gunfire.

The pair are behind bars as they await trial on charges of second-degree attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree assault.

Cielepa and Vanegas were each honored with a “Certificate of Appreciation” at Friday’s medal ceremony, and watched on with glee as little Fatou accepted her “Survivor Award.”

The biggest surprise, however, came when they wheeled out a brand new white Glerc bicycle with training wheels and a basket — which was bought with personal money that officers from the 32nd precinct pooled together.

Fatou kept it simple when asked how she felt about the bicycle, telling The Post: “Good.”

When asked about being reunited with her heroes, she said she felt: “Amazing.”

“She deserves [the bicycle], she deserves a lot. I’m just happy that she’s going to grow up, and, not be another statistic on the street, having a child being shot and being a victim of gun violence,” said Vanegas.

Cielepa added that saving Fatou’s life has been her most rewarding experience in her career.

“Aside from it being very nerve-wracking, because we were first on scene, so we had to make sure that the vicinity was safe, it just happened so quickly that honestly, I’m more than grateful that Officer Vanegas was there with me,” she said.

“I would love to see who she grows up to be in 10 years, and what she ends up doing with her life. Maybe we will inspire her to become a police officer one day.”

The pair vowed to keep in touch with Fatou, especially on her birthdays.