Dad of the year? Father saves 13-year-old son from alligator

When a 13-year-old boy was caught by an alligator while swimming in a lake, his family jumped to his rescue.

A father and his 13-year-old son are in recovery after sustaining injuries in an alligator attack while out on a fishing trip at a lake in Texas on Sunday.

Kaleb Hurley was swimming in Lake Charlotte in Cedar Hill Park when a six- to eight-foot alligator grabbed him and began to pull him under the water, Kaleb’s grandfather Mark Ford told KHOU.

"Kaleb told his mother something had a hold of him," Mr. Ford said. "When we figured out what was going on, the alligator jerked Kaleb away. His dad and I got a hold of Kaleb and got him away from the alligator."

But when Kaleb’s father James Hurley jumped into the water after his son, he was also bitten. The family called 911 and the father and son were airlifted to Memorial Hermann Hospital.

"He did something I would do as a father myself. My hat's off to him," paramedic Ovielo Ocanas told KHOU. "He went and defended his son."

Parents who put themselves in danger for the sake of their children often say they feel they had no choice but to act.

Last year in another Texas town, another parent saved her child from an animal attack. Chelsi Camp stuck her arm down a dog’s throat and bit off its ear to force the dog off of her two-year-old daughter Mackenzi Plass, KHOU reported. Both mother and daughter survived with injuries.

“You do whatever you can,” Ms. Camp said.

“I only know to fight, so how else do you get somebody to stop?” she later added. “I mean I would do the same thing with a human being.”

This report includes material from the Associated Press.