A homeless man is being hailed as a hero after he made the ultimate sacrifice to save a woman who was being held hostage at gunpoint.

Francisco Erasmo Rodrigues de Lima was a homeless man from Brazil who recently came upon a horrifying scene. The 61 year-old was stunned when he saw Luiz Antonio da Silva holding a woman at gunpoint on the steps of the São Paulo Cathedral. Without hesitating, Francisco took action.

Video footage shows Francisco run over and tackle Luiz, allowing the woman to run away. Tragically, Francisco was shot during the rescue and died at the scene. Luiz was also killed, but although the woman was injured, she is expected to make a full recovery.

The church released a statement saying that “in the cathedral, we pray in for those who have lost their lives in daily tragedies and violence,” going on to “ask God to restore peace in our city and for scenes/incidents like that do not happen again.”

Social media users have been praising Francisco as a hero.

“Bless this man. A real hero. Gave his life for this woman. God has a special place for him in heaven,” one user wrote, another adding, “What an amazing man. He died a true hero. Good night God bless Francisco. Good luck to the lady he saved. Francisco will be your guardian Angel for life.”

“It was courageous for the homeless man to step in to save her life without any thought of his own. Not many people would do that. I’m so sad that he had to lose his own life doing it,” a third user wrote. “God bless him, he was a good hearted man despite his circumstances and still risked his life for another. Yes he is a hero and should be praised for what he did. Being homeless doesn’t mean you look down on them, you don’t know what their circumstances were, but we who are in a different place can help them.”

God bless you, Francisco! Watch his daring rescue in the video below.