Adelaide brothers allegedly stabbed by mum on North-South Motorway hugged after being saved

Two brothers who were allegedly stabbed by their mum in their car on the side of the road immediately hugged each other after they were saved by a hero bystander.

The boys, aged eight and three, were allegedly stabbed by their 35-year-old mother along the North-South Motorway in Adelaide before midnight on Monday.

She has since been charged with two counts of attempted murder and is being held in custody while she undergoes a mental health assessment.

Former soldier Josh Smith was driving when he witnessed the alleged attack before he got out of his car to tackle the mother to the ground and save her children.

He revealed the heartbreaking gesture the brothers made when they were saved and the three words their mother spoke to them as she was taken away by police. 

For a brief moment Mr Smith believed he was too late as the brothers lay motionless on the road, but he was taken aback by the heartwarming gesture that followed.  

‘After I picked them up and yelled at them a little bit to see if I could get a response they both stood up and gave each other a cuddle,’ he told Adelaide Now.

He then said the mother spoke three words to her children as she was taken away by police.

‘Mummy loves you,’ she said. 

Mr Smith first thought the family had been involved in an accident when he first saw the car.

He said he saw the two boys lying on the ground and that it looked like their mother was trying to help them.

Mr Smith then spotted the knife and charged at the mother. 

‘I managed to get her away from the kids and get her to the ground and get the knife off her,’ he said. 

He described seeing blood everywhere with the children covered in it.

‘I had it on my hands and my knees from where I was kneeling in it,’ Mr Smith said.

The former soldier said he had dropped his phone as he was rushing towards the car and wasn’t able to call triple-0.

He said it felt ‘like a lifetime’ before a passing motorist stopped to call emergency services.

The two boys were taken to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide where they were treated for critical injuries.

The eight-year-old had surgery on his wounds early on Tuesday and was expected to make a full recovery.

His three-year-old brother was also expected to be operated on with his condition described as stable.

After the incident, Superintendent Selena Dinning said police were extremely grateful to the man and the other people who helped.

‘If this man hadn’t stopped, I’m sure the situation would have been much worse,’ Supt Dinning said.

‘We’re very grateful that he stopped and we’re also very grateful to the two other members of the public who assisted him.

‘We think he was very brave in doing this. We are really pleased that he was there – right spot, right time.’

Supt Dinning said it was not known what triggered the incident or where the woman was going.

‘She was on the expressway, so it’s not that far (from her home) but why she was there, I can’t say,’ she said.