A 12-year-old boy has been hailed a hero after he reportedly st@bbed his mother’s boyfriend while trying to save her from an alleged attack.

The incident happened at an apartment complex in Temple Hills, Maryland, where Xavier Leathers said he woke up to find his mother’s boyfriend allegedly chok!ng her.

According to Xavier, he quickly went to the kitchen, grabbed a kn!fe and st@bbed the man twice in the back.

“Something in my body told me to. I had to take action then or something bad would happen,” he said.

His mother said she initially did not know what had caused the man to stop chok!ng her until she later overheard police officers saying he had been st@bbed.

She said she was grateful her son stepped in, adding that she believed she might not have survived the alleged attack.

The man was reportedly taken into custody, although Prince George’s County Police had not officially announced an arrest at the time of the report.

The boy’s mother was taken to the hospital and later filed for a protective order.