35-year-old Ingrid Brown, and her partner Michael Liddell, were at their home in the Gold Coast suburb of Coombabah when they saw two men lurking in the bushes.
Ms Brown recalls seeing the man raise 'both his hands above his head' and she registered it was an axe seconds before it struck her in the face.
The July 1 attack has left the mother scarred for life and facing the possibility of never smiling again.
Her alleged attacker, Clint Daryn Hall, a 35-year-old crane operator, tried unsuccessfully to be released on bail in Brisbane Supreme Court last month.
The court heard that Mr Liddell saw Hall and his stepbrother, 18-year-old Thomas Ealam, behind his home and asked the pair what they were doing.
Reportedly confronting the duo accusing them of stealing a copper pipe from a nearby construction site, Mr Liddell was quick to notice the axe, yelling to his wife: 'Ingrid, there's a machete.'
Ms Brown told Nine News, 'I don't know why this happened. I didn't provoke them at all.'
The court then heard it was the attacker, Hall, who called police because he was concerned he seriously injured the woman.
Ms Brown's cheek bone was sliced off in the attack and needed to be secured back in place with three screws.
She also sustained a 20cm cut to her other cheek, which required 24 stitches, and is likely to be left with a permanent scar across her face.
