A hero NYPD cop was forced to relive the horror of his brush with death Monday under questioning by the psycho who stabbed him in the brain in a Brooklyn subway station.

The surreal scene in Brooklyn Federal Court played out as part of a $40 million suit Hugo Hernandez has filed against the victim, Angel Cruz, and three other officers.

He claims the cops used excessive force and broke his ankle while trying to subdue him after he stabbed Cruz in the temple with a 6-inch dagger.

Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who is representing himself, told the jury in his opening statement that he committed a “terrible act of violence against a fellow human being, and I am profoundly sorry.”

Just as on the night of the March 2007 attack, Cruz’s heroism in the face of insanity shone through Monday.

“I remember him striking me across the head. … I remember seeing him standing there with a knife in his hand ready to attack me again,” Cruz said.

Cruz – who had stopped Hernandez for smoking – said he does not recall firing five shots from his service weapon, hitting him four times. With blood gushing from his head, he chased the assailant down a flight of stairs and held him on the platform floor.

“I guess it was pure adrenaline,” he said, “and the feeling that I’m not going to let him get away with assaulting a New York City police officer.”

Cruz spent two weeks in intensive care and received speech and physical therapy before returning to full duty.

A Marine reservist who served in Iraq, he received the NYPD Medal of Honor and is now a detective.

“My short-term memory has developed a lot better, but there are still some things [I forget], like remembering the name of a location,” he said.

Hernandez, who has a history of hearing voices commanding him to kill, pleaded guilty and is serving 20 years.

His suit accuses Cruz, Sgt. James McNamara and Officers Victor Lopez and Christopher Balleara of punching and kicking him, pulling his hair, spitting in his face and twisting his right ankle until it snapped.

Hernandez questioned Cruz about his self-defense training and the use of nonlethal force.

“Why did you feel the need to draw your weapon?” he asked.

“To save my life,” Cruz responded.

(Source: NY Daily News)