PETERSBURG, Va. -- A businessman drove himself to the hospital after a stranger slashed his throat Sunday afternoon in Petersburg.
Bill Sizemore said he was visiting the future site of his planned mini-golf and go-kart business on South Crater Road when he saw a man standing in the woods nearby. Sizemore, who prides himself on helping those in need, went to check on the man.
"When I get to about within 15 feet of him, I ask him, if he's OK," Sizemore said. "As I reach over, walk over and start pointing to the lake, he reaches behind me and cuts me, cuts my throat with a box cutter."
As the stranger ran off, Sizemore made a life-saving decision.
Instead of calling 911, he chose to walk to his car and drive himself to Southside Regional Medical Center.
"I'm holding my neck, blood is going everywhere," he said. "As much as I was bleeding, I decided, it was better for me to get in my car and drive, a block, two blocks to the hospital than it was to call for assistance."
He walked into the emergency room where he was rushed into surgery.
The box cutter missed Sizemore's major arteries and muscles, but he lost a lot of blood in the attack.
Sizemore received four units of blood and underwent three hours of surgery.
Doctors expect Sizemore to make a full recovery.
He was able to give police a very detailed description of the suspect.
Using security video from a nearby Wawa, police identified a suspect and made an arrest while investigating a recent robbery.
The robbery suspect has not yet been charged with Sizemore's attack, but the investigation is on-going.
