A fundraiser has been launched for a 27-year-old college student from Austin after he was seriously injured in a stabbing incident on a CapMetro bus earlier this month.

Aiden Hearn is legally blind and has relied on CapMetro to get around the city for 10 years.

Hearn was taking CapMetro’s No. 3 “Burnet/Menchaca” bus to work on March 13 when he reportedly witnessed a man attacking another passenger with a knife.

“Before I could even fully comprehend what I was seeing, I just moved,” Hearn said. “My only thought was I didn’t want him to kill the other gentleman or hurt him anymore.”

Hearn was able to pull the man off the other passenger and place himself in between the two. However, he was stabbed multiple times in his hands and one of his legs in the process.

“It’s kind of blurry and confusing in my memory,” Hearn said. “I end up getting away from the gentleman and off the bus, and then, basically, as soon as I get out of the bus, I have one bystander who’s grabbed me. I took my belt off that I was wearing, and he applied a tourniquet to my leg.”

A doctor later told Hearn that the man’s actions likely saved him from losing his leg.

Hearn said another bystander — a woman — held and comforted him as he waited for paramedics to arrive.

“By that point, I started going into shock, and so I lost my vision temporarily,” he said. “She was just holding me close and telling me, ‘It’s OK.'”

Hearn was able to later thank her.

“While the gentleman might have saved my leg, the way I put it is, I think she saved a part of my soul,” he said. “It’s hard to put into words how grounding that was and how comforting that was after such a frankly terrifying experience”

Hearn is now out of the hospital and back home with his family facing a long recovery.

Margaret Smith, a friend of Hearn’s family, set up a GoFundMe on behalf of Hearn. She said his family anticipates medical expenses from the incident will exceed $100,000.

“Aidan really did something heroic here. He really put a lot of people, other people’s safety, in front of his own well being,” Smith said. “I think he deserves to be able to make it through this without debt and without a financial burden.”

Smith also said Hearn will be unable to work as he recovers from his injuries.

“With that arterial damage to his leg, he is kind of having to relearn how to walk,” Smith said. “There’s a little bit more to the recovery than just stitches and muscles healing up. It was a pretty significant wound to his leg.”

Hearn’s co-workers at Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy Austin described his actions as “literal superhero stuff” in a recent Facebook post.

“When we heard here at the shop what happened, we of course were shocked but not surprised- if you know Aidan, you know it’s just his character to do the right thing no matter the risk,” the post said.

So far, more than $56,000 has been raised for Hearn’s recovery. Smith said the goal is to raise enough money to fully cover Hearn’s medical expenses.

“My pie in the sky goal would be for Aiden to be able to quit working for a year and just go back to college, and see his life just really get improved because of something like this,” she said. “But in reality, what we really just hope is that we can raise enough money, so that he isn’t saddled with debt after this.”

Hearn said he’s currently taking a break from school to save up money for tuition, but hopes to take classes in crisis management at Austin Community College when he returns.

“I’ve always had a really good rapport with kind of understanding where somebody is coming from, even if it’s from an emotion heightened state,” he said. “So I feel like my personal talents could probably do a lot of good somewhere, if I can help other people in crisis.”

In the meantime, though, Hearn said he’s grateful for all of the support he’s received. He also doesn’t plan to stop riding CapMetro anytime soon.

“I mean, I still believe very strongly in public transit,” he said. “I still believe very strongly in the good it can do for a lot of people who, you know, might have difficulties getting around otherwise.”

Hearn said he wants to make sure people don’t forget the other passenger who was seriously injured in the stabbing incident.

“He hasn’t had quite the same public attention or public support as I have,” he said. “I want to make sure he and his family are in everybody’s prayers and well wishes, and that any support people can offer, they offer in his direction as well, because he’s going to need it.”

Rogerio Martinez Jr., 54, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as a result of the incident, according to Austin police.