Inset: Dannel Caban (KPRC). Background: The area near where Caban's wife was allegedly attacked by a man with a baseball bat in Sugar Land, Texas (KPRC).
A Texas woman was attacked with a baseball bat while out walking with the baby she was nannying, the beaten woman's family says.
The incident occurred late last week along Fluor Daniel Drive in Sugar Land, a large city and suburb of Houston, according to police.
For now, the suspect in the attack is unknown.
Investigators are currently surveying the area near where the attack occurred to determine if the incident was caught on surveillance footage, the Sugar Land Police Department says.
At around 10 a.m. on Friday, the woman was caring for a 2-year-old and pushing the toddler in a stroller, her husband told Houston-based NBC affiliate KPRC.
Dannel Caban said his wife was quickly suspicious when a man in an SUV was driving against traffic and stopped to ask her for directions.
Then she noticed the bat inside the vehicle, he said.
"The guy right away came out of the car and started swinging the bat," Caban told the TV station. "She tried to start running and he hit her on the back of the head."
The husband went on to say that his wife's first concern was protecting the child.
"She fought trying to save the baby," Caban told Houston-based ABC affiliate KTRK. "She fought back."
But those protective efforts apparently led to more violence as she tried to dial 911.
"He broke her phone in his hand," Caban told KPRC.
And then the blows continued, the husband and wife said.
The woman herself — whose name has yet to be released — spoke with KTRK about the unexplained violence over the weekend.
"He just was swinging and swinging," she said. "I just was yelling, 'Stop, stop. I don't know you.'"
Police have described the suspect as a man in his 30s or 40s. He is said to be tall with a heavier build, according to the victim. Investigators say he fled the scene of the crime in an older-model SUV, but have yet to release further details about the suspect.
At one point, the woman raised her arm to block yet another strike from the bat she believes was aimed at her head. The ensuing blow shattered both bones in her forearm, her husband said.
"He was just swinging and swinging," the woman explained. "The baby was crying hysterically. I just put my arms up to defend myself, to make sure he wasn't going to hit me more on the head. And that's when he hit my arm and shattered my arm."
The woman said she pushed the child out of harm's way as the attack continued. Ultimately, the toddler was not hurt. The woman, however, suffered injuries to her head, arms, and hands.
Caban said the extent of his wife's injuries means she will likely be hospitalized until near the end of the week but may take five to six months to fully recover.
The assault ended as the victim drew attention to what was going on.
"As soon as I started screaming louder, he just ran and got in his car and took off," she said.
Eventually, a passerby found the woman scared and bloodied, and stopped to call for help.
When Caban arrived, he found his wife in grave condition.
"I saw her completely full of blood, with the arm literally hanging," he said. "I thought that was the end of her life."
The motive for the attack is unknown. The woman says she hopes the man responsible for her injuries is found and arrested.
"God gave me the strength to fight back," she said. "All I could think of was my kids, my grandbabies, my husband, my family."