A mother's stunning sacrifice: So worth it

BOSTON -The young Haverhill mother who jumped from her burning apartment with her toddler told NewsCenter 5 her injuries were so severe, she may never be able to walk again, WCVB reports.

A Haverhill woman was forced to grab her son and leap from a third floor window Wednesday as a massive apartment fire inched closer.

From her hospital bed, Christina Simoes, 23, said she went through a six-hour surgery and doctors don't know if she will have permanent nerve damage.

"I'm not doing too great, but I'm alive," she said.

She described her life-and-death decision to grab her son and jump from their third-floor apartment Wednesday.

"I knew it was my only way out," she said. "I kissed him and told him I loved him and then I jumped."

Simoes said she lost feeling in her legs when she hit the ground and then had to use her arms to crawl out of the way of falling debris as her building burned.

Her brave and daring decision has prompted an outpouring of support from NewsCenter 5 viewers.

Thousands of people have shared her story on our Facebook page calling Simoes an amazing mother who "defines motherhood in every sense of the word."

A GoFundMe page was also set up to benefit Simoes and her son.

She reunited with her 18-month-old son Camron in the hospital Thursday afternoon.

"This is the longest he's been away from her," her boyfriend Tyler Strangman said.

She said she was thankful to see he was not seriously hurt.

"It's so worth it because he's OK," she said. "It's amazing to see him perfectly fine and playing."