Nightmare at fundraiser: Her rescue was to bite off her attacker's finger!

USA - It's an absolute Christmas horror: a scammer posing as a toy donor attacked a volunteer and kidnapped her!

Erin Quinn had been helping her community in the US state of California to accept toy donations for the upcoming festive season. She thought nothing of it when she received a text message from what appeared to be an elderly woman who wanted to donate.

According to the New York Post , Quinn agreed and was given an address where she was to pick up the toys. Last Wednesday, she made her way there.

After arriving at the address provided, she received another message that someone would bring the donations directly to her car.

But when Quinn returned to her vehicle, someone was already waiting for her in the car - and from that moment on, the situation spiraled out of control.

A woman sitting in the back seat grabbed Quinn by the hair, gave her electric shocks and forced her to drive off.

After around 25 minutes, the kidnapped woman - who had already been attacked around 30 times with the stun gun at this point - caused an accident. Both women got out of the vehicle and a fierce struggle ensued.

In an act of self-defense, Quinn bit off part of her attacker's finger.

"She tried to put her fingers in my mouth, presumably to pry my mouth open. In a complete panic, I bit off part of her finger because I didn't know what else to do," Quinn later explained.

At that moment, she recognized her attacker: it was her former housekeeper, who had disguised herself with a blonde wig.

Quinn was eventually able to escape when a passer-by - whom she described as her "hero" - rushed to her aid. Frighteningly, however, several nearby construction workers witnessed the incident, even filming it, but did not intervene.

She suffered numerous injuries, including bruises, burns to her head from the stun gun, tufts of hair pulled out and broken nails.

Although Quinn is certain that her attacker was her former housekeeper, police have yet to arrest anyone. "I'm convinced her plan was to kidnap me and take me to Mexico - either to demand ransom or to sell me," Quinn said.

The traumatic events have turned her life completely upside down. "I just wanted to help with the Christmas toy drive and thought I could pick up the presents before I started my work day," she added.

A GoFundMe pagehas since been set up for Erin Quinn to support her after this horrific experience.