Kayla Witek was just 18 when she moved in with a young man she had been dating.

She told A Current Affair she initially thought he was "amazing", but that things changed and John* became controlling, cutting her off from her sisters Tilly and Tegan.

“He stopped my sim card, he took my phone away, he took everything that I owned. I couldn’t have anything with me,” she said.

Kayla Witek was stabbed nine times by the father of the baby she was carrying. (A Current Affair)

Heavily pregnant and aged just 18, Kayla eventually escaped, but her nightmare was far from over.

John* tracked her down at her parents’ home where he planned an ambush, breaking in through the back door, shortly after her father and brother left for work.

“He tracked me down. He started stalking me,” she said.

Kayla said she was stabbed in the back first. (A Current Affair)

“He basically stabbed me in the back. I didn’t feel anything. I fell down the stairs and then he just kept on stabbing me. That’s when I started feeling it. I started screaming and then my sister came.”

Kayla showed A Current Affair reporter Tineka Everaardt the nine stab wounds she suffered in the attack, one of which pierced her stomach, narrowly missing her son.

Kayla’s sister Tilly tried dragging her down the stairs to safety but was knocked out when John threw a chair at her.

Tilly said she believed Kayla's attacker was trying to end her life. (A Current Affair)

“He was dull, empty, dark, nothingness – (he) looked at her like she was just a target to throw things at, to hit, to stab,” Tilly told A Current Affair .

“I think he was trying to end her life.

“I can’t fathom why he would want to do that to a pregnant mum, and that’s his own child.”

Kayla carries scars from her ordeal. (A Current Affair)

Kayla’s mother, who was in the backyard while the attack unfolded, heard the commotion inside and hurried in, chasing John from the home.

John was initially charged with attempted murder, but that was downgraded to intentionally causing serious harm, and he was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

As he does not have Australian citizenship, he has now been sent to a detention centre awaiting deportation back to the Middle East.

The attacker is now waiting to be deported from Australia. (A Current Affair)

But the sisters live in constant fear that John could walk free any day if he is allowed to stay in Australia.

“It’s no justice. I still have fears for me and my son,” Kayla said.

*The man’s real name has been changed to John for legal reasons