A MOTHER has been left thanking her lucky stars that her only child was not seriously hurt or even worse when he was coward punched after trying to diffuse an altercation between a male and female in the Mildura CBD at the weekend.

The mum feared the worst when she woke early Sunday morning with an instinct that all was not right, and it was only after discovering her 18-year-old son was not in his bed that she frantically