Hero Student Who Stopped Bully Gets Thanked On ‘Dr. Phil’ By Blind Victim

A California high school student has recently been hailed a hero after a video of him jumping in to stop a bully from hurting his friend went viral. Cody Pines is a 17-year-old who said he weighed the situation carefully before punching the bully who was beating up a fellow student, 16-year-old, legally blind Austin Higley. The young hero has since received a lot of attention,and his friend got to thank him on national television, by way of Dr. Phil, saying that he “saved his life.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYcdn-Y1CGM

The video above was filmed at Huntington Beach High School in Huntington Beach, California, and has been reposted several times, amassing over 26 million views since it was first uploaded. The high school officially released a statement that it did not condone the actions of the students and expressing disappointment that bullying is a practice engaged in by any of their students. Cody had also been interviewed and advised that he did not really want to hit the bully, who was only identified as Noah, but could not stand by and watch Austin be hurt. It seemed as if the boy was deliberately aiming his punches at Austin’s head. There was no fanfare in the teenagers actions, he simply delivered one explosive punch to the bully then angrily criticized his actions before swiftly turning to check on his friend.

“You trying to jump a f***ing blind kid, bro? What the f*** is your problem?… I swear to God if you f*** with this kid again, I will f*** you up!”

The bully, Noah, actually tweeted since the attack that Austin had started the fight.

“I never knew the kid was blind he came up to me and tried to fight me so I fought him. Now have 8 stitches in me ear I hope everyone is happy.”

The Mirror reported that the Huntington Beach Union High School District issued a statement that they would investigate the incident. Noah has since been charged with misdemeanor battery before being released into his parents’ custody.

WEDNESDAY: Hero teen who defended legally blind classmate from an alleged bully speaks out: http://t.co/sTyqzRq3qG pic.twitter.com/iShWjtFMKc

— Dr. Phil (@DrPhil) October 12, 2015

The Dr. Phil interview is the first time that Cody Pines and Austin Higley have spoken of the incident together, and the master of getting people to talk about their feelings sought to get some insight into what Cody had been thinking of in the moments leading up to his one-punch knockout of the bully. Austin can be heard clearly asking for the punches to stop. Dr. Phil pointed out that Austin had been taking several hits before Cody appeared and asked what he initially noticed about the one-sided fight, which was more of an assault. Austin obviously could not see the punches coming, and the bully had grabbed his arm and as such he could not properly defend himself either.

“I saw the kid getting into Austin’s face and stuff. I didn’t even notice it was Austin until I got closer and whenever I noticed it was Austin, that’s when I went to go help him. I just ran up there and I just swung my arm. I was only trying to hit him once, I was just trying to get him off of him.”

When asked if there is anything he has to say to Cody, Austin gives a simple yet heartfelt and touching statement before the two, who have been friends since elementary school, share an embrace.

“Honestly, I feel like you saved my life.”

The Daily Mail wrote about Dr. Phil’s admiration of the fact that Cody did walk away, that he did not exploit the situation and continue to hit the young man that fought Austin. Dr. Phil calls the young hero’s actions very mature.

Cody Pines is a teen full of hope and consideration, and he stated that he hopes his actions make other bullies think twice before harassing or assaulting anyone. The teen hero had also stated what an awesome person Austin Higley is and that he hopes everyone shows him love.

The Dr. Phil episode will air on Wednesday.

[Photo Courtesy of Screencap of YouTube Clip]