Hero Deliveroo driver Caio Benicio has reunited with his family, after flying back to his native Brazil to spend Christmas with them.
The 43-year-old won nationwide praise last month when he bravely helped stop a knife attack on children outside a school on Dublin’s Parnell Street.
The shocking event left a five-year-old girl in a critical condition in hospital.
Two other young children and a female creche worker, aged in her 30s, were also treated for injuries after the knife attack.
After learning of his bravery, a GoFundMe was set up to raise money for Benicio, as people were invited to “donate the price of a pint of Guinness in your local to Caio so that he knows the people of Dublin appreciate him.”
The fundraiser nearly doubled its original €200,000 target by raising more than €369,000 for Caio.
Weeks after the shocking incident, Caio has been reunited with his wife Clara, 12-year-old son Breno, and 18-year-old daughter Lara in Brazil.
Sharing a photo of their reunion at the airport, he wrote on social media: “We’re all back together.
“After a bunch of things happened, I came to get some strength from being with them – my family. Love you all. And, big thanks to the Irish folks. I’ll be back soon.”
In response to the money raised for him last month, the Deliveroo driver wrote in a message on GoFundMe: “Hi everyone, Caio here. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated over the last few days. It has been so overwhelming seeing all of your support and I am so grateful.”
“I wanted to share with you all that I have been in contact with the family of the little girl and I have offered to assist them in any way I can.
“They have yet accept this offer, but it is my intention to support them the way you have all supported me.”
In an update shared last week, the parents of the young girl seriously injured in the knife attack described her as a “warrior”, and said they hoped she would be moved out of intensive care before the end of the year.
