Caitlin Dydzuhn lost sight in one eye during the May assault, but her attacker was arrested on the spot after Cassius Bythewood stepped in.
Cassius Bythewood was just walking near his mother's Miami neighbourhood in May when he heard a woman screaming. What happened next got him a hero's award from the Miami Police Department last Wednesday, with his mother, "Children of Blood and Bone" director Gina Prince-Bythewood, watching from the front row.
The woman was Caitlin Dydzuhn, out walking her dog near her downtown condominium when a man wielding a homemade shank attacked her. Cassius, 25, ran toward the screams and physically pulled the assailant off her, kicking and shoving him until police arrived. The alleged attacker, identified as Raydean Johnson, 49, was arrested at the scene shortly after, according to the LA Times.
Dydzuhn didn't come out of it unscathed. She was punched and stabbed and suffered damage to one eye so severe that doctors told her she'd likely never regain vision in it, NBC Miami reported. She has since recovered, but that night stayed with her.
"My last memory was screaming for my life, kind of blocking punches, blocking stab wounds, and feeling that no one was coming to save me," Dydzuhn said at the ceremony, crediting Cassius with talking her through it and guiding her to safety while staying calm.
Cassius told reporters he was raised to act, not freeze, in moments like that, and that years of martial arts training gave him the instinct to move. "Fight or flight," he said, per 7 News. "I'm glad that fight kicked in."
Gina Prince-Bythewood, who also directed "The Woman King" and "Love & Basketball," told reporters at the ceremony that watching her son honored was surreal. "I've always been proud of him, but this is such an incredible thing that he did," she said. She later posted about the ceremony online, calling Cassius her firstborn and crediting her husband, Reggie Rock Bythewood, for the example he set.
Reggie responded in the comments with a message for his son. "My son. So grateful you're safe. Grateful Caitlin is recovering well," he wrote, adding that he admired how calm and empathetic Cassius stayed under pressure and explaining why he's long called him "CHAMP."
The post drew reactions from Shonda Rhimes, Viola Davis and Gabrielle Union, all of whom praised Cassius in the comments. Dydzuhn also weighed in publicly, writing that she's alive today because of the values Cassius was raised with, and calling him her hero.
For a family whose work has spent years telling stories about courage on screen, this was the real thing, unfolding on a Miami sidewalk in broad daylight. Dydzuhn's recovery continues. Johnson's case moves through the courts next.
Be the first to comment
Join the argument. No password, just your email or a passkey.