SEATTLE — A woman has been arrested and charged with assault after she repeatedly stabbed a West Seattle mother who was walking her baby in a stroller, Seattle police said.
Sarah Hanson was walking her baby Oct. 2 when she heard footsteps approaching from behind in the middle of the day.
“All of a sudden there was a knife attacking my head,” Hanson told KIRO 7. “I fell to the ground, just trying to protect my head out of shock.”
In a matter of seconds, a walk with her baby turned into a fight to save her life. The stranger was relentless and kept attacking Hanson, according to reports from investigators.
Sarah could only think of her 5-month-old son, Luke, in the stroller.
“I need to run to get away from the stroller to draw her away from him,” Hanson said.
Despite the violent attack, Sarah and her husband say they’re overwhelmed by how many things they’re thankful for, because they don’t know how bad it would have been if the people living on 41st Avenue didn’t respond to her screams for help.
“Turns out it was this 79-year-old man who came between me and her,” Hanson said. “He was just like a wall just facing her. She was pacing back and forth with this big kitchen knife.”
While he shielded Hanson from the attacker, another neighbor ran across the street and grabbed Luke.
“That’s what saved our lives,” she said.
Her husband, Graeme, hopes those neighbors know how grateful they are.
“They probably won’t see themselves as heroes, but they are,” he said. “I’m just very thankful.”
Kierra Ward, 26, was arrested and charged with first-degree assault. She’s homeless and lives at a park not far from the neighborhood, according to investigators. Neighbors told KIRO 7 she appears to be suffering from a mental illness but they never knew she would be capable of this.
“I just remember her saying that I was made of iron,” Hanson said. “She was so removed from reality.”
Hanson was stabbed in the back of her head and her face. Cuts to her arm may require surgery. She hopes to begin taking walks with her son again very soon.