Her mom didn't know she had it in her.
A Virginia mother says her young daughter is a true hero after saving her little sister from a crazed carjacker.
Brandie Weiler told InsideEdition.com that she was driving with her two daughters, Madison, 12, and Mollie, 7, when they witnessed a car accident at the intersection in front of them on John Taylor Highway on Saturday.
Read: Woman Pumping Gas is Carjacked, Taken on 150-Mile Ride Before Escaping
Weiler said she got out of her van to check on the other driver who was hit and call police when the man driving the other vehicle got out tried to enter her van with her two daughters inside.
“The next thing I know he started going towards my van. He opened the door and got in. My kids were in it so I was trying to run back to the car,” Weiler said.
In a quick-thinking action, 12-year-Madison put the van in drive because she knew the man, later identified as Paul Salsman, wouldn’t be able to start it.
“He was saying all these things like, ‘Let’s go’ and, ‘I need to get to this place,'" Madison told WTKR.
But the girl clearly wasn't going to let him drive them off without a fight — especially with her little sister Mollie in the back seat.
Madison started punching and screaming at the man.
“I just went for it,” Madison said. “Nothing passed my mind except he is a psycho and he needs to get out of the car."
Weiler said the man eventually gave up and got out of the car and then tried to take someone else’s car before police showed up and arrested 21-year-old Salsman.
Weiler said she’s extremely proud of her daughter for her brave actions.
Read: A Teenage Girl Was Shot Point-Blank After She Chased Her Carjacker and Opened Passenger Door
“I don’t know where it came from," Weiler said. "Madison just said she had to do what she had to do to take care of Mollie. She’s tough. I never thought that she would be that. So it’s just like, 'Whoa, wait."
The 12-year-old fractured her growth plate during the altercation, but the mom said she definitely held her own.
“She held it together better than I did,” Weiler said.
Police arrested Salsman and charged him with three counts of attempted carjacking.
Watch: 15 Heroic Men Flip Overturned Convertible Saving Trapped Man After Crash
