A mother says her teenaged son was lucky not to lose an eye after his face was slashed by a masked man wielding a box cutter knife.

Carol Yazoglu, a single mother of two boys, said the attacker “lunged” at her eldest at about 1.30pm on Sunday when he answered their door.

“They rang as if they were a friend,” she said. “Thank goodness he pulled back or he could have lost his eye.”

Ms Yazoglu said the 18-year-old had been left “terrified” along with the rest of the family, who have since been afraid to leave their Somerset apartment.

“We’re in shock – we’re quiet people, we keep to ourselves. This doesn’t happen in Bermuda.”

According to Ms Yazoglu, her son was attacked with a box cutter that cut from his hairline to his cheek, leaving a superficial wound that bled profusely.

Ms Yazoglu said the family had moved to Somerset in December, knowing no one in the area, but had been subjected to threatening behaviour over alleged noise complaints involving an area business.

A few months ago, she said, a man approached her saying “they can’t wait to catch my son”.

“It was disgusting, but we just thought they were drunk,” she said.

About two weeks ago “a young man came to the door between 11pm and 1am just knocking and then running”.

“But for this to happen two weeks later, I’m terrified. I don’t just have an 18-year-old. I have an eight-year-old in the house.”

She said she had gone fishing nearby with her youngest on Sunday, her only day off work during the Cup Match holiday.

The attack came after a neighbour dropped by at the apartment to collect a cooler. When the doorbell rang again, her son opened and was cut in the face.

Ms Yazoglu added: “When he called me and asked for help, I sent a friend to the house and I called the police.”

The family was left afraid to leave home, and are now looking to move.

The 47-year-old said she was “angry and shocked”. “My baby has been injured, senselessly. That’s what I can’t wrap my head around.

“I need to move. I pay too much to be a prisoner in my own home.”

A police spokesman confirmed an assault had been reported at a Mangrove Bay residence.

Police said the suspected attacker was approximately 5ft 11in, dressed in black clothing with a grey helmet with a mask over his face.

The spokesman added: “He is reported to have left the area, travelling south on East Shore Road on a dark grey Sym motorcycle, with black tape covering the license plate.”

The incident comes during a spate of knife crime involving young people that Assistant Police Commissioner Antoine Daniels recently called an “alarming” trend.

Anyone with information regarding the Somerset assault is asked to call 211 or the main police number, 295-0011.

The public can also contact the confidential Crime Stoppers number at 800-8477.