A Virginia Beach man lost his leg in a crash but gained a friend when a stranger saved his life

May 26--VIRGINIA BEACH -- In the early morning hours, Joe Watts' mind turns back to the crash that almost took his life.

The flash of green from the car that struck his motorcycle. The car's Ford emblem. The image of his wife flying through the air above him.

Pain keeps him awake. If he tries to get out of bed, pain shoots through his body. He even still feels it in his severed right leg.

"Three o'clock in the morning is my worst time," Watts said. "I've relived it so many times in my sleep."

During these lonely waking moments, Watts' thoughts also turn back to the voice of the man who saved him.

He remembers the stranger towering above him as he lay in a Virginia Beach intersection after the April 28 crash.

He remembers the voice directing people around the scene. Give me a belt. Call 911.

He remembers the belt tightening around his leg, a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

Just a day later, Watts, 36, heard the voice again. This time, he was in a room at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where he and his wife, Stephanie, had been rushed after the accident. When Watts heard the voice, he invited the stranger in.

Now, Randy Sparling is no longer a stranger. The two have formed an unlikely friendship -- a middle-aged lifelong educator and a bandana-wearing biker.

"It's ironic that I get my life saved by a down-to-earth kind of person that outside of this situation is somebody I still like and somebody I still respect," Watts said.

___

Sparling was in the right place at the right time.

He is a student activities coordinator at Salem Middle School and was leading a group of students on a Saturday morning field trip to Busch Gardens. His bus was stopped at a light on the corner of Indian Lakes Boulevard and Ferrell Parkway around 7:30 a.m.

Sparling pointed out Watts' blue Harley Davidson to a student. How cool, they agreed.

When the light turned green, Watts, with his wife sitting behind him, pulled into the intersection. The couple was on the way to an early breakfast with friends. That's when a minivan plowed into him. The bike, Watts and his wife careened across the road.

The minivan driver, Yener Ezego Bartolon-Deleon, 26, has been charged with reckless driving, driving on a suspended license and having no insurance, Virginia Beach police said. According to a police spokeswoman, Bartolon-Deleon had run a red light when he struck the motorcycle.

Sparling jumped from the bus and rushed to Watts and his wife. Watts was bleeding profusely, so Sparling yelled for belts. Several students threw their pants belts from the school bus windows.

Someone with a severe injury like the one Watts had could bleed to death in minutes. Sparling knew this -- and how to tie a tourniquet -- from his years in the Boy Scouts.

"It was just instinct," Sparling, 56, said. "I knew I had to do something."

What he did likely saved Watts' life.

"There's a reason for everything in the world," Sparling said. "I feel I was placed there to do the right thing."

___

Watts has been moved to a wing of the hospital for in-patient rehab services. It might be another year before he gets a prosthetic leg, he said. On Thursday, he was dressed in a T-shirt and gym shorts, a yellow sock covering his left foot. It was the first day in nearly a month he hasn't been in a hospital gown.

A big photo of his wife sits on a windowsill alongside stuffed animals and balloons. A whiteboard on one wall lays out his day's schedule, things like appointments with physical therapists and doctors.

Sparling has visited Watts almost a dozen times. They've talked about the crash, the Boy Scouts and their families.

Once Watts gets out of the hospital, he wants to give back to the Scouts and has offered to help with firearms instruction.

This week, they got to talking about Sparling's son, who struggles with alcoholism. Watts said he has struggled, too.

"I told (Randy), if your son needs someone to talk to ... I've been there," Watts said. Sparling said he plans to take his son to meet Watts.

Conversations have turned to the lighter side, too. On Friday, Watts texted Sparling an image of himself in a wheelchair. Sparling texted back, "who are you going to race?"

"Joe's there for me now," Sparling said.

___

(c)2018 The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.)

Visit The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) at pilotonline.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.