Dublin knife attack: A hero's story who insists he's no hero

Dublin Knife Attack: Caio Benicio, who works for Deliveroo takeaway app, and other interventions by passers-by were praised by Irish prime minister Varadkar.

As a knife-wielding assailant attacked children outside an Irish school, a Brazilian delivery driver insisted that he acted “like every parent would” when he used his motorcycle helmet to stop the unnamed suspect. In the knife attack, a five-year-old girl sustained serious injuries and remains in hospital. The attack sparked the worst night of rioting in Ireland's capital Dublin for nearly two decades as unconfirmed reports circulated on social media that the stabbings were carried out by an “illegal immigrant”.

Dublin Knife Attack: A man works to remove a broken window from a sport shop that was damaged in a riot. (Reuters)

Caio Benicio, who works for the Deliveroo takeaway app, and other interventions by passers-by were praised by Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar, who called them "the real Irish heroes". Father to a 12-year-old boy and daughter, 19, Caio Benicio said that he does not think of himself as "a hero".

"I'm a parent. I have two kids myself. I think every parent would do the same," he said of his spur-of-the-moment actions. It's something that you don't think about, (you) just act," he told news agency AFP.

The local response and a call from his children were “priceless”, he said.

“It's nice to make them proud. That's very, very nice,” he shared. Another trainee chef from France, who has been in Dublin on an internship at a local restaurant since October helped Caio Benicio to fight with the assailant.

Caio Benicio also reiterated that the riot by around 500 people following the attack "makes no sense".

"The protest is against immigrants, and I'm an immigrant myself and I was the one to help out," he said, adding, “Anyway, I think it was a small group of people (responsible) that they don't even know what they're doing, fighting for.”