'Proud of Grandad for tackling armed robbers in betting shop'
- Published
Dennis O'Connor with his granddaughter Caroline Murphy
Eighty-five-year-old Dennis O'Connor was in his local betting shop in Cork, Ireland when he tackled armed robbers.
A video of him throwing a chair at one and chasing another out has gone viral around the world which surprised the rest of his family.
"I wouldn't say it's completely out of character but we were all a bit shocked when we saw it," his granddaughter Caroline Murphy tells Newsbeat.
The three armed men appeared to have hammers and a gun in the video.
The attempted robbery was over in about 30 seconds
"We have some cousins in the US and about two days after it happened they started seeing the video.
"They hadn't seen Grandad in a few years so it was a bit of a shock but they were all delighted for him, praising his Irish spirit as they would put it," she explains.
"Seeing that the gun is a couple of inches from his face was really scary, I knew he's fine but I still got a lump in my throat when I saw that."
Dennis didn't tell anyone about the incident but Caroline says he's doing fine despite the "crazy week", although she's hoping he doesn't do something similar again in the future.
"We are all proud of him," she explains.
"He stood up for his friend when his friends needed him. I guess it's a fight or flight response and it's based on adrenaline, it's a natural reaction."
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