{"id":82065,"date":"2026-08-28T05:11:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T05:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/82065\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T05:11:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T05:11:21","slug":"cherie-holt-mum-stabbed-protecting-sick-son-breaks-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/82065\/","title":{"rendered":"Cherie Holt: Mum stabbed protecting sick son breaks silence"},"content":{"rendered":"

A mother stabbed with scissors on a CBD street as she tried to protect her seriously ill 10-year-old son has opened up about the horrific ordeal.<\/p>\n

Cherie Holt said in a statement on social media that she was in Melbourne on Tuesday so her boy could receive treatment for a rare, inoperable brain tumour.<\/p>\n

He needs magnetic resonance imaging scans every three months as part of the treatment.<\/p>\n

They were in front of police headquarters on Spencer St when Ms Holt\u2019s son was punched to the head and scissor blades where plunged into her back<\/a> as she tried to rescue him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing made what happened particularly difficult. My son still had to undergo that MRI after being punched in the head, and because I was hospitalised with my own injuries, I couldn\u2019t be beside him for it,\u201d she said in a statement on Instagram.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of holding his hand and reassuring him through one of the most frightening parts of his medical journey, I was stuck in another hospital because I had been stabbed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Holt said words could not describe the experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing attacked myself was terrifying, but that wasn\u2019t what I was thinking about. I was watching somebody attack my child and then trying to make sure he couldn\u2019t get to any of my boys again,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I realised one of my sons was still there and could see what was happening to me, screaming \u201cMum, Mum,\u201d I knew I couldn\u2019t let go. I didn\u2019t know what was going to happen to me, but I knew I had to keep that man away from my child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Holt lauded and thanked the \u201cincredibly brave men\u201d who stepped in and restrained the alleged offender.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou put your own lives and safety on the line to help save mine. That\u2019s not a small thing. You didn\u2019t know me or my boys, but you stepped into an incredibly dangerous situation to protect complete strangers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn doing that, you potentially saved not only me and my children, but other members of the public as well. There will never be enough words to explain how grateful I am to you MEN. And when I\u2019m mobile again, the beers are definitely on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melbourne CBD attack<\/p>\n

Ms Holt said what happened showed there needed to be a \u201cmuch bigger conversation\u201d about violent crime levels.<\/p>\n

She said it was a fact that the public was becoming accustomed to incidents like what had happened to her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want our government to recognise that families should not have to accept serious violence as an increasingly normal part of life. Something needs to change,\u201d Ms Holt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be very clear that my criticism is not directed at the police officers who responded to us. The police involved have been incredible. They have done their jobs and, in my experience, have gone above and beyond what was required of them in supporting us through an absolutely horrific situation.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jerry Sowood 27, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court this week<\/a> after being charged over the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI punched the kid in the head, I took the scissors and I stabbed the woman in the head,\u201d Mr Sowood told the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo need to hide it … at least they\u2019re both still breathing, you know, so I kept my humanity. (They) might be somewhat traumatised.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A mother stabbed with scissors on a CBD street as she tried to protect her seriously ill 10-year-old…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[57921,43157,130397,130407,130426,74438,48935,130416,37404,37726,130412,130422,130393,49743,130418,130425,312,130395,130405,18571,38110,36712,130428,36694,39633,130398,69330,130404,45710,130417,5518,130410,3430,130402,260,130399,7543,46910,126006,130421,22672,130420,46525,55226,130419,39417,126008,130408,50771,130423,62770,47444,44368,3121,130046,124393,72621,130415,130409,39193,106,130400,124371,44116,130406,130427,72600,130413,39856,40163,37172,130411,130414,36531,87130,43054,65184,130394,37121,60505,37118,128174,55587,130424,37141,67797,38964,26114,36985,68,130396,130403,44794,130401],"class_list":["post-82065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-s-mum","tag-s-son","tag-10-year-old-son","tag-a-much-bigger-conversation","tag-a-cbd-street","tag-a-fact","tag-a-mother","tag-a-rare","tag-a-small-thing","tag-a-statement","tag-an-absolutely-horrific-situation","tag-an-increasingly-normal-part","tag-an-incredibly-dangerous-situation","tag-another-hospital","tag-cherie-holt","tag-complete-strangers","tag-crime","tag-enough-words","tag-every-three-months","tag-families","tag-front","tag-her-back","tag-her-boy","tag-her-family","tag-his-hand","tag-his-medical-journey","tag-horror-attack","tag-ill-10-year-old-son","tag-incidents","tag-inoperable-brain-tumour-he","tag-instagram","tag-jerry-sowood-27","tag-life","tag-magnetic-resonance-imaging-scans","tag-melbourne","tag-melbourne-cbd-attack","tag-melbourne-magistrates-court","tag-men","tag-mr-sowood","tag-ms-holt","tag-mum","tag-my-boys","tag-my-child","tag-my-children","tag-my-criticism","tag-my-experience","tag-my-humanity","tag-my-own-injuries","tag-my-son","tag-my-sons","tag-no-need","tag-other-members","tag-our-government","tag-part","tag-police-headquarters","tag-scissors","tag-serious-violence","tag-sick-boy","tag-sick-son","tag-silence","tag-social-media","tag-something-needs","tag-spencer-st","tag-that-man","tag-that-mri","tag-the-incredibly-brave-men","tag-the-alleged-offender","tag-the-beers","tag-the-court","tag-the-experience","tag-the-head","tag-the-head-and-scissor-blades","tag-the-horrific-ordeal","tag-the-incident","tag-the-kid","tag-the-line","tag-the-melbourne-cbd","tag-the-most-frightening-parts","tag-the-police","tag-the-police-officers","tag-the-public","tag-the-scissors","tag-the-timing","tag-the-treatment-they","tag-the-woman","tag-their-jobs","tag-this-week","tag-treatment","tag-tuesday","tag-victoria","tag-vile-cbd-attack","tag-violent-crime-levels-she","tag-words","tag-your-own-lives-and-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}