RICHMOND, Va. — A 25-year-old Richmond man said he was attacked in Shockoe Bottom after he stepped up to help a person in need. The October 19 incident has inspired an online fundraising effort to help the injured man pay his medical bills.

“I was walking on the sidewalk in the back of our group of four and I heard a scuffle behind us,” the man named Greg said about the attack near 20th and East Franklin Streets. “I stopped to see what was going on and I saw two guys in the middle of the street who seemed to be wrestling. At first I thought it might be a couple of friends playing around, but I quickly saw that one guy was seriously trying to get away from the other guy. The person being attacked started running, and ran to the other side of the street behind a line of cars. The attacker was chasing him at this point, and I decided to step in.”

Greg, A Virginia Tech graduate who asked his last name not be disclosed, said he then pulled out the collapsible baton he carried for protection and tried to scare off the attacker.

“I yelled at the attacker to leave the guy alone and to back off. The attacker ran at me and stopped about four feet away, just far enough that I couldn’t reach if I tried to swing,” he said.

Greg said the man had something that looked like a pipe in his hand.

“He pointed the thing he was holding at me and I got hit in the head with something. I can’t say for sure what hit me or how many times because after I got hit in the head I got pretty fuzzy,” Greg said. “I ended up face down on the asphalt with an open wound to my head. I immediately put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. Luckily there was an off-duty EMT walking on the street and he stopped to help me out.”

Greg said he ended up at the emergency room where he received 23 stitches to close the gash in his head.

“My friends that were with me during the attack kept me company all night in the ER. They are also good people for helping a friend in need,” Greg said. “It means a lot to me to have people who are willing to help me out and keep me laughing during this ordeal.”

Nearly one month later, Greg said most of his wounds wounds have healed. His friends set-up a YouCaring account to help cover their uninsured friend’s medical bills. The fund has raised more than $1,000.