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Virginia Beach Boy Scout leader honored for saving man’s life

Posted at 10:39 PM, Sep 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-19 23:26:54-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Back in April, we met Joseph Watts who was thrown from his motorcycle along with his wife after a mini-van didn’t stop for a red light. Medics say he would have been dead from blood loss if it wasn’t for Randy Sparling – a Virginia Beach Boy Scout leader who just so happened to be chaperoning a group of students to Busch Gardens.

“We got stuck at the light. We were put at that light for a reason. Then, all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye coming from the left a car going 50-60 miles an hour did not stop for a red light,” says Sparling.

Without hesitation, Sparling sprung into action and began using belts and towels to stop the bleeding.

Today, Watts says he believes it was not random that Randy Sparling was there that day and he also says it’s not random they both were able to meet again for recognition.

“As I was standing on the stage, just kind of winging a speech, I just thought a lot about my dad and the way I was raised and the things that I’ve experienced. It kind of seems like moments like this are a meant to be thing," says Watts.

Both Watts and Sparling say it’s a day that has changed their lives.

Watts and his wife are still in physical therapy and they are both hoping this year he will get a prosthetic leg.