Hero Matt McKiernan told today how he battered the Belfast knife attack suspect with his son's hurling stick fearing for the victim's safety. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail Mr McKiernan, 32, told how he and his friend, who only gave his name as Andre but who is trained in Brazilian jujitsu, jumped out of their car to rescue the bloodied victim on the floor. A 30-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder. Police have previously described the alleged attacker as a Sudanese man who entered the UK in 2023 and was granted leave to remain. Mr McKiernan and his friend had stumbled across the horrifying incident by chance as they took a short-cut to a petrol station last night. Matt, from West Belfast, had been driving, and said: 'I turned into Kinnaird Avenue and I could see another car stopped in the middle of the road a little further up. 'The woman driving then began reversing at speed as though she was trying to get away from something. 'She stopped as I approached and I drove round her and as I did so we could see what looked to be two men fighting in the street, with one on top of the other. 'This was late at night and so we thought we better go and break it up. Andre was in the front passenger seat and he jumped out first...' 'He's trained in Brazilian jujitsu and so he approached them to separate them, but as he got closer he saw the knife. It looked to be a serrated steak-knife but with a broken handle. 'He shouted to me that the man attacking the other had a knife and to get something to help. 'At this point I thought someone was going to lose their life. 'I'd taken my son to hurling practice earlier that evening and so I'd got out of the car, gone to the boot and grabbed his hurling stick. 'Instinct took over and I ran over and I smashed this guy over the head with the hurling stick. Right on the flat side, about three times. As hard as I could. '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. '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. 'We were trying to roll the attacker onto his stomach to subdue him but he was struggling. The police then arrived and four officers took over before armed tactical support turned up. 'The victim was still conscious. But he was weak with all the blood loss. 'When he was taken away, he looked to have a horrible injury to his eye. The knifeman was led away by six officers but they were still struggling with him.' Mr McKiernan, who runs his own removal company and whose name is spelt Maitiu Mág Tighearnán in Irish, added: 'I'm glad we intervened when we did. It was pure chance that we'd gone that route to the petrol station. '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.' Mr McKiernan was armed only with a wooden stick when he led a trio of members of the public who tried to rescue the attacker's victim from certain death. The young father had grabbed a hurley stick – used for the Irish sport of hurling – to ward off the attacker. His partner Aoife O'Reilly expressed pride in him and described Mr McKiernan as 'very, very humble'. She went on: 'I couldn't be prouder of Matt. This is my partner and the father of my child who stood in and hopefully saved a man's life last night.' Mr McKiernan was said to have survived his intervention without being seriously injured. Video of the shocking incident showed him swinging the stick at the migrant several times, appearing to stop the attacker from further injuring his victim. He was supported by two other men in his efforts. Mr McKiernan wrote online that he had stumbled on the attack 'by chance' and that he 'got out to protect a young lad' when he saw what was happening and that the police had yet to arrive.