A California man stepped in front of a man wielding a machete to help save a woman at a Starbucks in Bakersfield, KGET reported.
Blaine Hodge, 27, was at Starbucks on Sunday when a man identified by police as Robert Daniel Rivas, 31, chased a woman that authorities said was a former girlfriend.
According to a witness, Joe Harris, the woman came running into the Starbucks shortly after noon.
"She was panicked. She was saying 'help me' and then at one point she said, 'this guy's going to kill me,'" Harris told KGET. "Everyone else was running away and (Hodge) was the first person to run straight to the action.
"He was like, 'I'm going to stop this guy, regardless if I get stabbed or not. I can't let this woman die.’”
Hodge took the brunt of the attack from Rivas, police said, He needed 200 stitches and surgery on his right hand, the television station reported.
The woman also was taken to a hospital and was in critical condition, KGET reported.
Hodge’s girlfriend, Tori Toney, said her boyfriend’s actions were not surprising.
"I believe it because it's him," Toney told the television station. "He would do it again. He could lose an arm and he would still do it again. And that's just Blaine.”
Rivas was charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and resisting arrest, police said.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help cover Hodge's medical expenses. As of Friday morning, more than $36,000 has been raised.
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