Advertisement

'I was dying in front of my kids': Autistic son saves mum from brutal attack

An eight-year-old autistic boy has been hailed a hero after bravely hitting his mother's attacker with a tyre lever and helping her escape to a neighbouring property.

Mother of two Becky Mulcahy answered a knock at her front door on September 11 last year and found her partner’s trusted friend Brent Gilbert at the door.

The injured Becky Mulcahy. Source: 7News
The injured Becky Mulcahy. Source: 7News

After allowing him to come inside, Gilbert allegedly became enraged when she told him she didn’t have any prescription drugs or cash to give him.

“That’s when he stabbed me right between the eyes, and then he stabbed me (again)… I got seven in the face, two in the top of my head,” she said.

The brutal attack unfolded in front of Ms Mulcahy’s two children - eight-year-old Lachie and six-year-old Shelbie.

Ms Mulcahy's facial injuries. Source: 7News
Ms Mulcahy's facial injuries. Source: 7News

“My kids were covered in my blood,” she said.

Ms Mulcahy was stabbed more than 20 times before Lachie picked up a tyre lever and belted the attacker.

Brent Gilbert has pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury. Source: 7News
Brent Gilbert has pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury. Source: 7News

“He held the back of my head, put a knife to my chest and he was going to finish me off and that’s when Lachie came over the top,” she said.

The two children helped Ms Mulcahy attempt to get to the next door neighbour’s home, with a downhill slope helping the injured mother make it to the doorstep.

Mother of two Becky Mulcahy. Source: 7News
Mother of two Becky Mulcahy. Source: 7News

“The whole way there I knew I was dying in front of my kids,” she said.

“I wasn’t going to do that.”

Ms Mulcahy spent the next four days in a coma at The Alfred Hospital.

Ms Mulcahy's stab wounds. Source: 7News
Ms Mulcahy's stab wounds. Source: 7News

“I still dream about the attack every night,” she said.

“I still fight for my life every night in my dreams.”

Thirty-five-year-old Brent Gilbert has pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury, and will be sentenced in November.

Brent Gilbert will be sentenced in November. Source: 7News
Brent Gilbert will be sentenced in November. Source: 7News