READ: The inspiring story of Julio Diaz, who took his knife attacker for dinner because ‘he really needed help’

Julio Diaz, a 31-year-old social worker from New York, was on his way home from a long day when a teenager attacked him, putting a knife to his throat.

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by Ellie Hooper |
Published on

Thinking quickly, Diaz said: 'He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him "Here you go."'

But rather than leave it at that, as the teen began to walk away Diaz called after him, saying: "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."

The robber was obviously taken aback by Diaz's random act of generosity and questioned his motives.

Julio took the teen to his favourite diner
Julio took the teen to his favourite diner

Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me…hey, you're more than welcome."

The social worker then took the teenager to his favourite diner, where he eats regularly.

'The manager comes by, the dishwasher come by, the waiters come by to say hi. And the kid was like "you know everybody here. Do you own this place?"'

'I said: "No, I just eat here a lot."'

"But you're even nice to the dishwasher."

"Haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"

To which Diaz replied: "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"

"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved the way," the teen says sadly.

When the bill arrived for their meal Diaz turned to the teen: "Look, I guess you're going to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."

"if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets

According to Julio, the teen didn't even think about it, returning the wallet - and Diaz gave him $20 to help him out.

He did ask for something in return however, taking the teen's knife away from him.

'I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world.'

What a lovely man.

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