Two years ago, Erelle Mason and her partner Scott Martin experienced the unimaginable pain of losing a child to sudden infant death syndrome.
Baby Mason Martin was just three-weeks-old when he passed, and his death prompted calls for a review of WA's forensic services system.
His grieving family was forced to delay his funeral three weeks due to WA's only forensic neuropathologist taking leave during the holiday period, and Erelle was only able to hold her child three weeks after his body had been kept in the mortuary fridge.
Baby Mason's family has now been forced to endure a second tragedy.
Erelle was forced to defend herself, and suffered extreme injuries to her teeth and face.
She escaped, and was taken to Peel Health Campus for treatment.
Her stepfather Graham Hood spoke to the Morning Show on Radio 6PR on Monday morning about the devastating impact of the attack on Erelle.
"All of her teeth have been smashed, both of her eyes are completely black and she's got quite a bit of damage to her throat, the man tried to choke her," he said.
"As a result her life is an absolute mess, she can't see at the moment, her eyes are completely swollen. She's in a terrible state.
"Every time she looks at her face, she's going to be reminded of the horror of last Saturday morning."
Police arrested 38-year-old Damien Eric Maxfield on Sunday morning and charged him with murder and attempt to unlawfully kill in relation to the incident.
Mr Hood said his step-daughter had been attempting to recover from the loss of her son, and the attack was a major setback in her mental health recovery.
"It brings tears to my eyes because I know she really is struggling get her life back on track, she has been for two years," Mr Hood said.
"Her faith in human nature has been badly dented over the past couple of years as a result of all this and then she gets restored a little by the emotional support that's given by people who hear about her plight."
The family was overwhelmed by support from the West Australian public when their plight to investigate baby Mason's death was reported by local Perth media.
"I believe that that emotional support kept her on track after the event, because we were truly worried she would take her own life," Mr Hood said.
"Now this tragedy out of the blue, by an unknown assailant has just left her with no faith in humanity whatsoever.
"Any hope that she had of wanting to live on through this has been destroyed. Her partner, who was young Mason's father, is now dead for no apparent reason.
"We're really fearful for her, we love her, she's a great lady and we want to help her get her life back on track."
Mr Hood said not-for-profit organisation Mission Serenity had set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for Ms Mason.
The campaign aims to raise $30,000 to help restore Ms Mason's teeth and help ease the impact of the life-altering injuries she received in the attack.
"We want her to look in the mirror and see the face that West Australians are supporting," he said.
