The day the best of Sydney rose to collectively face down the very worst of humanity

No one got up that morning intending to be a hero, but a group of brave men from all walks of life rose to the challenge when called upon.

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It was the day the best of Sydney rose to collectively face down the very worst of humanity.

They were just going about their everyday lives, catching up for coffee or returning from lunch when screams alerted them to a knife-wielding man in the heart of the city.

No one had got up that morning intending to be a hero.

But when the situation arose a group of brave men from all walks of life rose to the challenge and put their own lives on the line to protect others.

The dramatic scene in Sydney before a knife-wielding man was tackled by members of the public and detained by police. Picture: Seven News

The knife in his hand, the blood on his clothes and crazed look in his eyes told just how real the danger was.

Suddenly life got very real and in that split second moment they chose to step up.

One man grabbed a chair from in front of Marco Lamotta’s Batch Espresso coffee bar near Wynyard and wielded it like a bullfighter as the knife man stood and screamed from a car bonnet.

“That’s Sydney at its best right there,” said Mr Lamotta, whose chair has been taken by police as evidence.

Bystanders subdue the accused slasher with chairs. Picture: Seven News

That everyday hero with a chair and others, including a firefighter and a tradie, tackled the man to the ground and restrained him, stepping on his hands and jamming a milk crate on his head.

They were unarmed and grabbed whatever came to hand.

A milk crate was used to pin down the man’s head. Picture: Seven News

For Sydney, the everyday heroes had saved the day but for many it was a reminder of that terrible day five years ago when just a couple of blocks away the Lindt Cafe siege tore apart Sydney’s cosy veneer of security forever.

Office worker Kim Cassingena heard the screams from her office at Southern World Travel on York Street. “It is just like the day of the Lindt Cafe siege. It just makes you feel a bit apprehensive about working in a big city,” she said.

The knife-wielding man stands on a car as a member of the public approaches him armed with only a chair. Picture: Seven News

“We see lots of homeless people in Wynyard Park and know there are things that need to be addressed.

“But the good thing is that good people stepped up when this happened and were just not prepared to let things fly.”

It is said that for bad people to succeed it only takes good people to do nothing. In Sydney (on Tuesday) the good people made sure that did not happen.