A crazed thug roared "who the f*** do you think you are" before punching a Dublin dad, all because he told him he couldn't sit directly beside him on a blocked-off Luas seat.
The 65-year-old was viciously assaulted on the Luas Red Line in Tallaght on Monday morning and had coffee thrown over him before the one-punch attack.
His daughter Kat said things could have been so much worse if it wasn't for a hero who intervened and stopped the dangerous man from landing another blow on her father.
Speaking to Dublin Live, she said she owes the mystery hero a "big bag of cans" after his help.
She said: "My dad is okay but he's still a bit shaken and has a black eye but it could have been a lot worse.
"He was sitting in one of the side by side two-seaters, where the outside seat is blocked off currently because of the ongoing pandemic.
"A man got on with no mask and tried to sit beside my dad.
"My dad put his arm across the seat and said sorry you can't sit there but the guy kept trying to push my dad's arm away to sit down."
Things then took an extremely violent turn when the man began blindly cursing at Kat's dad before launching into a physical attack on him.
She added: "He then shouted 'who the f*** do you think you are, I'll sit where ever the f*** I want' and threw his coffee in my dad's face and punched him in the face.
"A man sitting opposite them got up and physically got between them to separate them.
"The guy who assaulted my dad then continued to verbally attack him until he got off before trying to accuse my dad of assaulting him.
"Thankfully, other passengers backed up my dad and said that wasn't what had happened."
Kat said the passenger who intervened was a lifesaver and hopes to find him to reward him for his heroics.
She continued: "Dad doesn't know who he is, he was in too much shock to find out.
"I want to try and find him to thank him. I know it's a long shot but with a bit of magic, I would love to be able to find this guy so we can buy him a big bag of cans for assisting my dad. Him and I are both extremely grateful."
"Dad is doing OK, but won't be rushing back on public transport any time soon."
It is understood that Gardai are investigating this matter and are asking those who may have witnessed the attack to come forward.
A spokeswoman for Transdev, the company behind Luas, added: "We are aware of the incident and it is being investigated within the Luas and by Gardai."
