A Good Samaritan from California is being hailed as a hero after throwing himself in front of a man wielding a machete who was trying to attack his ex-girlfriend in a branch of Starbucks. Blaine Hodge, 27, ended up being seriously injured after he jumped in front of the suspect in order to defend the woman.
The attack happened at the coffee shop in the town of Bakersfield when 31-year-old Robert Rivas allegedly entered the store chasing his former lover with a machete.
'She was panicked. She was saying, 'Help me.' Then, at one point, she said, 'This guy's going to kill me,'' said Joe Harris, a friend who was with Hodge'Everyone else was running away, and he was the first person to run straight to the action,' Harris said of his friend. 'He was like, 'I'm going to stop this guy regardless if I get stabbed or not.' Hodge ran toward the assailant but ended up being stabbed several times after he came between Rivas and his girlfriend Rivas was arrested and charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest.
The attack happened at the coffee shop in the town of Bakersfield when 31-year-old Robert Rivas allegedly entered the store chasing his former lover with a machete.
'She was panicked. She was saying, 'Help me.' Then, at one point, she said, 'This guy's going to kill me,'' said Joe Harris, a friend who was with Hodge'Everyone else was running away, and he was the first person to run straight to the action,' Harris said of his friend. 'He was like, 'I'm going to stop this guy regardless if I get stabbed or not.' Hodge ran toward the assailant but ended up being stabbed several times after he came between Rivas and his girlfriend Rivas was arrested and charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest.
Hodge and the woman were both rushed to the hospital, where they were both initially listed in a critical but stable condition attack was brutal. Hodge required 200 stitches and had to undergo surgery on his right hand. It is still not yet clear as to whether he will regain the use of his right hand or fingers.' There was a person in danger and I couldn't just let her die,' Hodge told the news station from his hospital bed.' I'm okay, it's still lit, it's always gonna be lit and I appreciate all your concerns and hopes and prayers that have been going up. I'm gonna make it out of this okay.' Hodge's girlfriend Tori Tony said she wasn't surprised her boyfriend did his best to help the victim.' I believe it because it's him. I believe that he took a machete to the hands for someone else,'. 'He would do it again. He could lose an arm, and he would still do it again. And that's just Blaine.'
A GoFundMe page was created to raise money for Hodge's medical bills. Please donate if you can, or share to raise awareness of this model man who ran towards the danger, risking it all to save a life,' the page said. So far, $9,000 has been raised in just one day. Hodge's sister Faheemah Salahud-Din posted updates from the hospital room where Hodge is still recovering.' It has been a long painful day, but it has also been a day of joy, laughter and resilience. Anyone who knows Blaine Hodge knows that he is always smiling, and that's exactly what he did today,' she wrote on Facebook. 'We waited at the hospital with him from around noon to midnight and he was more concerned with us being sad that he was about getting close to two hundred stitches.''To me, he was a superhero that day,' a witness to the attack said, according to ABC 23. 'I don't think anyone could take that away from him today. He's the star of the day, he helped a woman survive.'
A GoFundMe page was created to raise money for Hodge's medical bills. Please donate if you can, or share to raise awareness of this model man who ran towards the danger, risking it all to save a life,' the page said. So far, $9,000 has been raised in just one day. Hodge's sister Faheemah Salahud-Din posted updates from the hospital room where Hodge is still recovering.' It has been a long painful day, but it has also been a day of joy, laughter and resilience. Anyone who knows Blaine Hodge knows that he is always smiling, and that's exactly what he did today,' she wrote on Facebook. 'We waited at the hospital with him from around noon to midnight and he was more concerned with us being sad that he was about getting close to two hundred stitches.''To me, he was a superhero that day,' a witness to the attack said, according to ABC 23. 'I don't think anyone could take that away from him today. He's the star of the day, he helped a woman survive.'
