King Martin, 5, should have been celebrating Christmas at home with his family. Instead, he was at the hospital.

King was rushed there after being attacked by the neighbor’s pit bull.

His mother, Brandi Sanders, learned of the attack when she answered her front door.

A man had knocked with the terrifying news. Imagine being a mother hearing a stranger tell you your son’s arm was being eaten by an animal.

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As Sanders ran to King, she heard his screams. Her motherly instinct took over and removed any fear for her own life.

The pit bull wasn’t letting go of her son. She put herself in harm’s way and finally was able to pull her son away from the dog.

“I was afraid I was going to lose him. He, like, passed out, so I didn’t know what was going on,” Sanders told WTAE.

King’s left arm was damaged to the point that doctors once thought it might require amputation. Fortunately, it didn’t end up being necessary.

But, a happy Christmas was taken away from the 5-year-old. King’s spirits are also down.

According to WTAE, his mother said, “He’s depressed about it. He feels like he’s not going be OK.”

Sanders has had to cope with her own struggles, not only with caring for her severely injured son, but also with recent unemployment.

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She worked at a fast-food restaurant but was fired.

Sanders wrote on Facebook, “So I just lost my job because they said I did no-call no-show when I almost lost my baby to like Friday wasn’t even thinking about calling when I explained the situation today to the lady she said well I didn’t know that and I’m running a business so we can have a meeting to talk about it Wednesday.”

The family has found light this Christmas season, however. Gifts were donated to King and Sanders’ other children.

King survived and was even able to keep his arm.

The small triumphs, such as King regaining movement in his arm, are what will fuel the family to move forward after experiencing this traumatic event and its various consequences right around the holidays.

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