SANDUSKY, Ohio – A woman working in her Ohio backyard Sunday evening just happened to be using a knife that would end up saving her life.

Julia Parsley was cutting zip ties from the fence of her Sandusky home when she said the neighbor’s pit bull got loose, came into her yard and went after her pit bull, Moo Moo, according to WJW.

“My neighbor’s dog got loose out of her yard. It attacked my two dogs and it attacked me!” Parsley could be heard screaming during her call to 911.

Detective Sgt. Kevin Youskievicz with Sandusky police said the attack was unusual.

“Most times you can get dogs separated and they run away, but this one didn’t. It continued to be vicious towards her dog and her, and towards the person who was helping her,” Youskievicz said.

Parsley doesn’t know why the dog wouldn’t stop. She said she put her arm up to protect her face and throat when the dog started coming at her.

“I didn’t have a choice. It just kept biting at me and I had to stab it, I didn’t want to,” Parsley said.

Parsley was rushed to the emergency room with deep bite wounds on both of her arms. She also had a bite taken out of her finger. Parsley went back to the hospital Tuesday afternoon for a surgery on her hand.

“The infection is deep in my tendons. They said if I let it go anymore I have a good chance of losing my finger, if not my hand,” Parsley said.

Parsley is a dog lover and owns two pit bulls. She said she is the last person who would want to hurt or kill a dog, but she did it to protect her own and said she legitimately thought her life was in danger.

“I thought, you know, if I am going to die, please don’t take my dogs. I said, God, please don’t take my dogs. I thought I was going to die, I really did.”

Charges are pending against the owner of the pit bull that was killed for not securing the dog properly. Sandusky police said they have been called out to the home before for a loose dog.