A 20 year-old man from North Carolina is being hailed as a hero after he stepped up to rescue a woman from a brutal assault.

Philip Mangum was working as a meter technician with Union County Public Works  in a local neighborhood one recent morning when he saw a brutal assault happening in a front yard.

“I could hear her yelling, ‘Call 911,’ and at that moment I knew it was a serious situation,” he recalled.

He then saw a man hit the woman and knock her to the ground repeatedly.

“Every time she tried to get up, he would keep pushing her down,” Philip said.

It was then that he knew he had to do something to help her. After seeing the man beat his girlfriend with a baseball bat and beer bottles, Philip ran to his own car to grab a crowbar pepper spray and his cellphone, dialing 911 as he ran over to confront the abuser.

“He said it was none of my business, but just the way I was raised, the way I grew up, if I saw something like this, I couldn’t just drive right by and pretend it never happened,” Philip said.

The brave young man told the woman to get in his truck, and when he heard police were coming, the suspect took off. He was later apprehended and identified as Jimmy McCoy, who is now facing many charges including assault by strangulation, assault inflicting serious bodily injury, communicating threats, intimidating a witness and more.

Police have praised Philip as a hero, crediting him for saving the woman’s life.

“He is a huge hero,” said Assistant Chief John Flynn. “He just did a lot of things right and that’s very important. [With] no training, 20 years old and it’s just amazing.”

Despite all the praise he’s gotten, Philip has stayed humble about the situation.

“I would do it again, no matter the size of the man,” he said, adding that he believes God just put him in the right place at the right time.

“[God] definitely knew what He was doing and now I’m thanking Him I was able to save her life and He gave me the opportunity,” he said. “Nobody wants to run into this but I was thankful that He gave me the courage.”

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