Spencer Grammer Shares What Happened When She Was Stabbed in 2020: 'Everybody Else Got It Wrong'

Rich Fury/FilmMagic Spencer Grammer

The past two years have been hard for Rick & Morty actress Spencer Grammer, who has been dealing with the trauma of being stabbed through the hand after trying to break up a fight in New York City in 2020.

It hasn't been just emotional trauma, either — it was also physical.

"I had a severe hand injury," she says of the incident, noting that she her median nerve and two tendons were severed during the altercation. "I haven't really talked about it before. But everybody else that wrote about it at the time got it wrong."

Now, in an interview with PEOPLE, Grammer, 39, is setting the record straight. "I tried to alleviate a fight," she explains of that summer night in July 2020.

Grammer and a friend had been in the East Village when they saw a fight break out between two people — reportedly between a restaurant patron and an intoxicated passerby looking to be served. When their argument escalated, she and the friend did their best to help calm things down.

She says what happened next was mostly a blur. "I honestly shouldn't have tried to help," she says, looking back now. "But there wasn't a knife involved to begin with. It was like any normal fight, basically."

Spencer Grammer

She adds, "I didn't see the person holding the knife, so it's difficult to say what happened really. Other people said what they saw, so everything revolved around eyewitness testimony."

She notes that it's still an ongoing investigation. "I doubt they'll ever arrest whomever did it," she says. "The crazy thing is, things like that happen so quickly. It all happened in a matter of minutes."

RELATED: Spencer Grammer Is 'Fine' After an Incident While Trying to Break Up a Fight at N.Y.C. Restaurant

She now says she'll always carry a little bit of fear with her regarding public altercations. "I know that within five minutes your whole life can change, so it's better to be safe than sorry," she says.

Still, she admits it can be difficult to sit back and do nothing. "I think you're just one of those people who runs to help or you don't," she notes. "It's just in you. And I probably would do that same thing again if I went back in time. Although it has affected my life pretty deeply."

Grammer, who has been living in New York getting her graduate degree in directing from Columbia University for the past five years, had to undergo surgery to repair the damage done to her nerves, and says the recovery wasn't simple.

"My son had to tie my shoes for six months," she says of her only child Emmett, 11. "I'm only now at peace with being able to work again and perform at the productivity level I'd like to. I had to go through crazy rehab after my surgery."

Her latest project, the Lifetime holiday film The 12 Days of Christmas Eve (out Nov. 26) marks the first time she's physically worked on a project since the incident, as well as the first time she's ever worked with her dad, Frasier star Kelsey Grammer.

Lifetime Kelsey and Spencer Grammer

RELATED: How Kelsey Grammer and Daughter Spencer's Christmas Movie Helped Heal Their Strained Relationship

"It was so much fun," she says of being in front of the camera again. "But I still don't have feeling in most of my hand. Sometimes I can't button things, or put in an earring. So there was always this worry that I was going to need to do something on set and not be able to do it."

Read more about Kelsey and Spencer Grammer's Lifetime holiday movie and how it healed their relationship in the new issue of PEOPLE, on stands now.

Still, she notes that she's very lucky that it wasn't worse — and adds that she's blessed to have the life she does.

"S--- happens to everybody, and in the scheme of things, it was minuscule," she says of the stabbing. "I still have a hand that works, and I'm OK. I'm going to be OK, and there are plenty of other people dealing with much worse and much more dire situations."

She's also grateful she was able to make such a heartwarming movie with her dad. "It was wonderful to spend that time with him," she says. "I really loved being able to do what I do best after all these years: cry when I need to, yell when I need to, learn lines, run around, put my hair and makeup on. Acting is such a pleasure for me."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories

12 Days of Christmas Eve premieres Saturday, Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.