Miami Man Saves Stabbing Victim, Reunites With Her Weeks Later

Cassius Bythewood was walking through downtown Miami on May 19 when he heard screaming and saw a man stabbing a woman on Biscayne Boulevard. Without a second thought, he broke into a full sprint toward the attack.

The victim, Caitlin Dydzuhn, was walking her dog outside her apartment building when a homeless man randomly attacked her. Bythewood reached them just in time, throwing kicks and punches to pull the attacker off her.

The fight was intense. Bythewood fractured his pinky finger throwing punches and eventually smashed a glass water bottle over the attacker's head to stop him. Even then, he had to kick the man again to free Dydzuhn's dog leash from under his leg.

"Just letting her know that she was safe," Bythewood said about those first moments after pulling her away. Police arrived shortly after and arrested 49-year-old Raydean Johnson following an hours-long standoff.

Dydzuhn survived the brutal attack but suffered extensive facial injuries that left her partially blind in one eye. Her dog emerged without a scratch.

Sunny's Take

The reunion between Bythewood and Dydzuhn weeks later brought tears and gratitude. "You saved my life, and it's something I think about every day," she told him.

What makes this story even more meaningful is that Bythewood had founded a nonprofit called 10K Steps Miami just months before the attack. The weekly walking club's entire mission is keeping women safe in South Florida.

"I'm very tapped in with my faith and I do believe that God places us in the places that we're supposed to be," Bythewood said. His martial arts training helped him act quickly, but his courage came from somewhere deeper.

Judd Rosen, a trial attorney representing Dydzuhn, praised Bythewood's actions. "He risked his life for someone he's never met," Rosen said.

Bythewood also sprained his knee during the rescue, but he never mentions his injuries first. His focus remains on the woman who gets to continue her life because he chose to run toward danger instead of away from it.

One person's split-second decision to help proved that everyday heroes walk among us, ready to act when it matters most.