Jo Alderdice scooped up the stranger's child and ran for her life.
Moments earlier, a resident of a neighbouring respite house had allegedly tried to snatch the three-year-old girl, who was walking with her father.
Now he was chasing Alderdice, the child in her arms.
"I knew I had to get her into my house. It was the nightmare where you're fumbling with the locks and the man is right behind you."
The mother of four told of the terror, which happened on Monday, and said she was prepared to kill to protect the children.
It was about 3pm when she heard the commotion outside her home in Porirua, New Zealand.
"I heard someone yelling 'leave her alone' and 'run, run, run.'
"I saw a child and knew something terrible was happening."
As the men struggled, Alderdice knew she had to get the child away from the danger. She ran outside, scooped up the girl, then fled back to her home and own young children.
"I had to get in and lock the door, the men were trying to hold him back, I had to protect the little girl."
She hid the children in a room and stood guard, listening to the man trying to break down the door.
"I thought I would have to stab him. I thought we were all going to die."
A neighbour, Alderice's visitor, and the child's father restrained the man until police arrived.
It was "just perfect luck" that everybody was around to help the child, Alderice said.
"The thought of what could have been is terrifying."
The 32-year-old man was arrested. On Tuesday he was charged with attempted abduction and assault in Porirua District Court.
He was remanded and is due to appear again on March 21.
Mental health services provider Pathways Health said on Monday night the man had been placed in its care "by the clinical team at Capital & Coast District Health Board, and was in the process of being admitted when the incident occurred".
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