French President Emmanuel Macron has congratulated the French teenager who heroically intervened in the shocking knife attack in Dublin city center on Thursday afternoon.
Alan Loren-Guille, a 17-year-old intern from Ardennes, saw a man with a knife attacking young children outside Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square East and helped wrestle the knife out of his possession.
Three children were hospitalized following the attack, including a five-year-old girl who remains in intensive care at Temple Street Hospital.
A childcare worker who attempted to protect children in the area is being treated for serious injuries in the Mater Hospital, while a man in his 50s, who is a prime suspect in the investigation, is also receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the attack.
Loren-Guille, who is interning at Spitalfields Pub and Restaurant in Dublin, suffered a few minor cuts to his hands and face during the altercation but emerged "fairly unscathed", the restaurant said in a post on social media.
Macron has called Loren-Guille to congratulate him for his bravery during the attack, according to French outlet Le Figaro.
The Élysée, the official residence of the French President, told the publication that Macron called the teenager to "congratulate him and thank him for this act of bravery which helped save lives and which makes us all proud".
The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs also congratulated Loren-Guille for his bravery.
"We salute the courage of our compatriot, who helped put an end to the attack perpetrated by an attacker in Dublin yesterday," the Ministry told Le Figaro.
"We also send our thoughts to the victims of this attack and their families. We stand with Ireland and the Irish people."
Spitalfields described Loren-Guille as their own "17-year-old superhero", stating that he "selflessly jumped in to stop the attacker and managed to wrestle the knife off him".
"Alan Loren-Guille who was one of the brave hero’s that managed to disarm the school children attacker yesterday in Dublin on his way to work. He is one of our brilliant French stagiaires in the kitchen @spitalfields_dublin.
"Without this act of bravery who knows what else might have happened. Our prayers are with the poor children, families and teachers who were affected by this tragedy. Please look out for one another. Not all superheroes wear capes."
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Declan Maxwell of Spitalfields told RTÉ's Brendan O'Connor Show that the teenager's parents would prefer if he didn't do interviews due to his age.
Maxwell, who is Loren-Guille's guardian while he is in Ireland, told O'Connor that the teenager will be meeting with Macron when he returns to France, on Wednesday.
"He spoke with him for about 10 minutes. I don't think he fully understands the impact of what he's done," Maxwell told O'Connor.
Maxwell added that a number of women with children came into the Spitalfields restaurant asking if they could "speak to the guy who helped with the kids at Parnell Square".
He said each child presented Loren-Guille with a card calling him a hero.
Meanwhile, the Sunday World reports that a heroic childcare worker, who risked her life to protect children during the knife attack, is currently fighting for her life on a ventilator in hospital.
Garret FitzGerald, who has a six-year-old son at the school, told the Sunday World that the woman stepped in front of a knife to protect his son and other children.
"She wrestled the guy long enough to allow the other kids to run and for help to arrive. Words fail me. She’s an absolute hero.
"She was one of many heroes – including passers-by who intervened, first responders, and the children themselves."
Wicklow native Warren Donohoe, who was in Dublin city center to celebrate his daughter Abigail's 11th birthday, also intervened in the attack, grabbing the knife-wielding man in an attempt to prevent him from attacking other children.
His partner Stacey Power told DublinLive that Donohoe witnessed the attack and ran across to help disarm the man.
"Warren was attacking the man, pulling the man away from the child. And then the Brazilian man came, his bike fell and he came over," Power told DublinLive.
Brazilian Deliveroo driver Caio Benicio was riding his motorbike through Parnell Square when he witnessed the attack. The 43-year-old dismounted the bike, removed his helmet, and subdued the attacker by hitting him with the helmet.
An online fundraiser for Benicio has raised more than €360k+ since it was launched on GoFundMe on Thursday evening.
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