A WOMAN broke her back after flinging herself from a staircase to avoid landing on her toddler son.

And as Mandy Loader lay in agony on the floor, year-old Mason brought the family's cordless phone to her.

Ms Loader, 25, was carrying a vacuum cleaner downstairs at her home when she slipped on the hose.

Fearing she would land on top of Mason, who was sitting at the bottom, she threw herself over the side.

Ms Loader fell 5ft and landed on her back on a free-standing mirror, which shattered across the hallway.

Doctors said she was lucky not to have been left paralysed by the fall.

She managed to drag herself into the living room, where Mason got the cordless telephone and handed it to her so she could call for help.

"I couldn't move and would have been lying in agony all day if Mason hadn't helped," said Ms Loader, of South Shields, South Tyneside.

"He's my little hero. I was crying and making the weirdest noises, but he handed me the phone when I pointed to it. It was a hell of a shock. I've never been in such pain."