Thanksgiving parade marred by balloon mishap

Thanksgiving parade marred by balloon mishap
$It happened in '97 when a soaring 'Cat in the Hat' balloon collided with a light pole which banged into Kathleen Caronna's head, sending her into comma for 24 hours. Caronna ended up with a fractured skull and permanent brain injury. And history has repeated itself again in 2005. Only this time the damage caused wasn't as severe.$ It happened in '97 when a soaring "Cat in the Hat" balloon collided with a light pole which banged into Kathleen Caronna head, sending her into comma for 24 hours. Caronna ended up with a fractured skull and permanent brain injury.

And history has repeated itself again in 2005. Only this time the damage caused wasn't as severe. Even so, more questions will be raised regarding the safety concerns during Macy's Thanksgiving Parades.

Two sisters from Albany, Sara (11) and Mary Chamberlain (26) escaped with minor injuries after being hit by a streetlight which could not stand the impact of being knocked by "M&M's Chocolate Candies" balloon and broke off.

The accident in this nationally televised parade took place near the end in Times Square when the tethers in the giant balloon got entangled in the head of a lamp post. The balloon handlers were apparently trying to get back on the correct path after a gust but ended up hitting a street lamp. According to the National Weather Service, wind speed in Central Park at 11 a.m. was 10 mph, and gusts 21 mph. (During the 1997 accident, the wind speed was recorded to be 45 mph.)

Stephen Chamberlain, father of the two injured, revealed that Sarah escaped with minor scrapes on her head whereas the older Mary, who needs wheelchair support, had to be given six stitches. Thanking his stars, Stephen was happy that none of the two were critically wounded. He also dismissed thoughts of suing Macy's putting it down as a freak incident which just happened.

In a meantime, Macy's maintained that it had followed the guidelines set for the parade and even specified that they had put experienced people in charge of the guiding the balloon. But they did agree to carry out a thorough investigation on the accident.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vowed to take up the matter seriously and have the necessary procedures in place to prevent such misfortunes during next year's parade. "We should be thankful none were more seriously hurt," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a relieved tone.

"It happened so fast; it dropped like a rock,” was a parade watcher Karim Simmons' reaction.

The Macy's parade began way back in 1924 and has since been a yearly affair with the exception of the World War II years (1942 to 1944.)