LEANDER, Texas -- A family vacation took a terrible turn when a mountain lion attacked a six-year-old boy in Texas.
"We weren't on a trail or down in the woods or anything we were on a sidewalk between the restaurant and hotel," said father Jason Hobbs.
The Hobbs family drove in from Leander hoping to enjoy the outdoors in Big Bend National Park, but their vacation was cut short.
"It snuck up on me," said Rivers Hobbs.
A mountain lion attacked the six-year old, just feet from the Chisos Mountain Lodge where they were staying.
"It had a hold of his face. The cat was clamped on his face," Jason said. "[I] reached down and got my pocket knife out and stabbed the cat in the chest, and it let go at that point."
The family immediately took action, but they claim the lodge did just the opposite.
"They made a decision right there in front of me that they were not going to make an announcement that there was a mountain lion attack outside and that the animal was still at large," said Rivers' mom Kristi Harris.
Despite the gruesome scars from his surgery, Rivers claims he didn't cry once.
"We're lucky he's gonna get away with some scars, and it didn't take his eye or get his neck or anything," Jason said.
A representative with the Big Bend National Park said there were two mountain lion attacks that day in the same area. The other family was able to fend off the animal with a backpack.
