HAVERHILL (CBS) – Recovering in her hospital bed, Haverhill mom Christina Simoes says she’s thankful she and her 18-month-old son Cameron are alive after she jumped from a burning building with him in her arms.

“I grabbed my son and I held him as tight as I could to my chest and I gave him a kiss and a hug, and I told him I loved him and I jumped out the window,” Simoes said Sunday from her hospital bed.

“I didn’t think about it. All I was thinking about was getting him out of there. He mattered way more than I did,” she said.

Simoes said last week she was lying in the bed with Cameron when she saw smoke in her window and jumped up.

“That’s when I saw the flames were only 10 feet away from where I was standing,” Simoes recalled.

With the fire spreading rapidly, Simoes said, she had no choice but to jump from a second-story balcony holding on to Cameron for dear life.

Right now, Christina is unable to walk but Cameron is doing just fine.

“I broke my vertebrae in my back so now I don’t have feelings in my legs,” Simoes said. . I had to have a six-hour surgery and I have

Though she is still in a lot of pain, Simoes said just holding her son in her arms is the greatest Mother’s Day gift she could ever receive.

“I’m having a good day,” she said from the hospital. “My whole family is here, my son is here. It’s magical, I mean there’s nothing that feels better than having everybody here with me,” Simoes said.

She will remain in the hospital for at least 10 days before beginning rehab.

Despite her incredibly brave act and sacrifice, she says she is not a hero for saving her son.

“I don’t think that I’m any special hero at all. I’m just Cameron’s mom,” Simoes said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation

MORE LOCAL NEWS FROM CBS BOSTON

[display-posts category=”local” wrapper=”ul” posts_per_page=”4?”]