A burglar broke into his garage, had a knife, and was willing to use it.
"I opened the door, turned the light on, and I saw him half in and half out of my mom's car," victim Tom Meehan said.
Meehan was alone.
He heard a noise in his garage that turned out to be a burglar who had broken in through a side window.
"As soon as I slammed the door shut, he came up with the knife and got me across the chest," Meehan said.
But the Penn State freshman didn't back down and neither was the knife-wielding attacker who lunged at Meehan.
"I knocked the knife away to the side, grabbed his arm. We were tussling," Meehan said.
Meehan showed Action News his wounds on his arm, chest, shoulder, and hand.
The 6'4 former high school football player didn't know he'd been slashed.
Adrenaline was flowing through his veins and he finally began to get the upper hand.
"I threw him and he hit his head against [a] pole," Meehan said.
The attacker slashed Meehan one more time in the thigh.
"That one was pretty deep. I went down to one knee. By the time I turned around, he was already up and out, jumped through the window," Meehan said.
The burglar remains at large.
Police say there has not been a rash of robberies or break-ins in the area.
Though, Meehan's injuries are not considered serious, he feels fortunate to be alive.
"Just don't think it can't happen to you. I was sitting home about go to a friend's house, next thing I know, a guy's attacking me with a knife," Meehan said.
Investigators only have a vague description of the suspect.
He was dressed head to toe in black with black gloves and left very little evidence at the crime scene.
He's described as a white male with green eyes and possibly has a mustache.
He may have suffered injuries to his head and left arm during the struggle.
