Sofía Vergara is grateful to have her son Manolo by her side.

Like most mothers, Vergara was worried after hearing about the bombings at the Boston Marathon. But she was also relieved that her 19-year-old son, who attends school in Boston, was not there on Monday when the attack took place.

Three people were killed and more than 170 injured when two pressure cookers bombs went off near the finish line.

"He just went back to Boston last night because he had class today. But he was here when the tragedy happened," Vergara told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"Thank God he was not there or I would have become crazy," the actress said. "I know for a lot of mothers it was a difficult time because the phone lines were so busy. I'm sure that for all the hours and minutes — whatever that lasted — I'm sure it was horrible."

And relief soon turned to worry about his return. "Last night it was terrible for me. I told him please not to go into public places. Just go to class and stay in your apartment and try not to be outside," she said.

But then she added: "Hopefully, nothing is going to happen. Hopefully, this was just one horrible thing, and they're going to catch this guy and it's going to stop."

Vergara spoke of the incident while promoting a campaign for hypothyroidism awareness. The actress was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2000, and continues to take medication for treatment.

The "Modern Family" actress also addressed her plans to have another child, at some point. For now, she's freezing her eggs.

"I'm 40 years old and things don't happen that natural anymore, so we want to make sure when we're ready — my boyfriend is three years younger than me and has no kids — I wanted to take advantage of science."

But the actress says she has no timetable for a new addition to the family.

"We would like to buy a house. We are also planning to eventually get married. I have so much work this year. So definitely this year it's not going to happen," she said.

Vergara is currently on hiatus from "Modern Family," but has several films coming out, including a starring role in the Robert Rodriguez thriller, "Machete Kills."

Based on reporting by The Associated Press