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“Once he let off the gas pedal and the car came to a stop, I began to take a few steps toward the car to help people who were hit by the vehicle,” Payne said. “That’s when the individual got out with a knife and he attacked someone to my right. Then he turned to attack me and I grabbed the knife with my left hand, which gave me enough time to get under his arm and away from him.”
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Payne said he had surgery Monday to repair the tendons and nerves in his left hand and is now recovering at home in suburban Columbus.
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The six-year Army veteran deflected any talk that he was a hero for grabbing the knife.
“I just kept him from stabbing me,” Payne said. “It wasn’t like I was trying to tackle him or take him out or anything. I was just trying to keep the knife from hitting me.”
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