OVER £17,000 has been raised for a West Belfast man hailed a hero after he confronted the suspect of Monday night's horrific attack.
Maitiu Mág Tighearnán intervened with a hurl, hitting the suspect a number of times before police intervened and arrested the male.
The violent attack happened in Kinnaird Street in North Belfast at around 10.30pm on Monday night. The victim, a man in his 40s, remains in a serious condition in hospital.
A GoFundMe page, set up by Niall Donnan, stood at £17,349 on Wednesday morning.
On the fundraiser, Niall states: "100 per cent of donations will be sent to Matt directly. Let’s buy him a pint!"
North Belfast MP John Finucane said the selfless actions of those who intervened may well have saved a life.
“They showed extraordinary courage and bravery to step in, to put themselves in danger to save, I think possibly, a man’s life because of their selfless acts, and I want, on behalf of everybody I’m sure, to thank them for that.”
Mr Mág Tighearnán said he had just returned from hurling training with his son. He said he exited his vehicle with his friend Andre, when they noticed the attacker stabbing the man.
“Andre was a few seconds behind and he came running in and tried to subdue the attacker with an ankle-hold so he could free the victim,” he told the Daily Mail.
“I hit this guy again, hard, but it didn’t seem to phase him. He did stumble back, though and dropped the knife. I think another man who’d been watching came in and kicked the knife away.”
He added: “I’m glad we intervened when we did. It was pure chance that we’d gone that route to the petrol station,” he continued.
“People have called us heroes but to be honest I’d like to think most people would’ve got stuck in and helped if they could. I just hope the victim pulls through and manages to recover as best he can.”
