BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A 6-year-old boy is lucky to be alive after he was stabbed multiple times in the chest, arms and upper torso. Buffalo Police believe he was attacked by his own mother, a 33-year-old woman, who also stabbed herself. The boy was saved by the quick action of his downstairs neighbors on Purdy Street.

“I heard a bunch of banging. I was sleeping,” said Crystal Hairston, who couldn’t imagine what was going on in the apartment upstairs on Purdy Street near Laurel Street.

It was just after 7:30 a.m. when she heard stomping and screaming. “My husband kicked open the door,” said Hairston. “When he kicked open her door, we saw her standing there and her son was next to her covered in blood and she had a knife in her hand.”

That’s when she says her maternal instincts kicked in and she grabbed the boy and ran to the door. “I got him home into my house. I put him in the room with my son and shut the door for his safety. She kicked in my door and chased me and my husband with a knife.”

After calling 9-11, Hairston said it was hard for her to describe what she was seeing. “They asked me where he was injured. I couldn’t tell. That’s how covered in blood he was. So, I cut the clothing off of him to try to identify where the marks were. He had over 50 marks from his arms, his torso, his stomach. It was bad.”

Upon arrival, Buffalo Police Officers found a six year old child bleeding with multiple stab wounds to his chest, upper torso and arms, according to Captain Jeffrey Rinaldo. “They also encountered a 33 year old woman who stated she as the child’s mother on the porch with what appeared to be self-inflicted lacerations to her arms.”

Her neighbor, Crystal Hairston said the woman did not actually cut herself until police arrived. Up until then, she had only threatened to hurt herself. “She said everything will be okay when my life is over and she put the knife to her throat. I proceeded to tell her to calm down and relax and put the knife down.”

Hairston says she’s only known this neighbor for about six months, and although she was aware the woman had been recently treated for mental illness, the woman did have partial custody of her son. “But never in a million years did I think she’d hurt him. She was good to him.”

Both the mother and child’s injuries appear to be non-life threatening. The child was taken to Oishei Children’s Hospital. The mother is in custody and expected to be evaluated at the Erie County medical Center.

We’ll have more information as soon as it becomes available.