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Questions & Help Mar 16, 2026 at 5:13 PM

Woman killed by St. Patrick's Day parade float in Louisville

Posted by Tracheid

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/woman-killed-st-patricks-day-parade-float-louisville-rcna263698
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_head_ Mar 16, 2026 +133
I tow a hay trailer with a tractor in our town's parades. There's always a lot of stop and go. Last Labor Day somebody stepped between the tractor and the trailer. She was behind me and I had know idea she was there. I don't know why but for some reason I turned around to look behind me as I was letting out the clutch and I was able stop it after going about 4 inches. The trailer just barely made contact with the middle of her torso.  It would have knocked her down at least, and possibly rolled the tires over her with the weight of almost 20 people on top. 
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redditallreddy Mar 16, 2026 +48
That had to be bowel-emptying scary for both of you. Glad it turned out ok.
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_head_ Mar 16, 2026 +64
I actually don't think it ever registered to her what could have happened. 
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Al_Jazzera Mar 17, 2026 +26
People are frighteningly oblivious when around heavy machinery. Used to run a concrete truck, I've been to numerous jobsites where home owners would let their children run around free range style. Not only do I need to pay attention to pouring out concrete and taking hand signals from the workers, but also have to build a map in my brain about where your hyperactive brats are in a large vehicle with massive blind spots. Moral of the story? Pay attention, this machine will kill you and it will hurt the whole time you're dying.
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Monteze Mar 17, 2026 +8
This always boggles my mind. Pay the f*** attention people! If a machine can move concrete around like water what can it do to you?
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RainaElf Mar 17, 2026 +1
probably not
1
universe_from_above Mar 17, 2026 +5
Something like that happened at a carnival parade here in Germany this year. Just today, the news reported that she is not in danger for her life anymore, a whole month after the accident.  Actually, it was a bus, so not a tractor with a trailer and she was a designated "Wagen-Engel" (carriage angel). These are the people who must walk beside each wheel so that nobody gets run over. 
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Agitated_Carrot9127 Mar 17, 2026 -6
Unibrow moment right there.
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geekworking Mar 16, 2026 +164
This is why most parades don't want any marchers or people walking along with the floats or getting on or off. They are too big and drivers often don't have visibility to see around. By the time someone yells or the driver feels the bump it's already too late. I was in a parade a couple of years ago where the vehicle in front of us was some high school basketball team in the back of a pickup truck. They were jumping in and out the entire time. One kid was standing when they started to move and was going backwards head first towards the pavement. Luckily a couple of the boys were able to grab him in time. He came so close to a severe or possibly fatal head injury. I have also been in a few where a marcher or spectator had a heart attack. Tragic, but at least most parades have EMS staged, so they got help faster than if it happened on the couch at home.
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Missingman666 Mar 16, 2026 +46
yeah I had to march next to a float one year to prevent people from trying to hop on it and I was like how bad could it be? It was f****** crazy. like i get it everyone is drunk but for fucks sake back up and stop making me push you away.
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southpaw85 Mar 17, 2026 -7
A lot of people don’t typically walk that far of a distance or at that brisk of a pace regularly so if you have an underlying heart issue couple that with some St Pattys beer and it’s a recipe for disaster.
-7
StopReadingThis-Now Mar 16, 2026 +224
Damn, 50 year old woman. Says she was walking alongside the float and "for some reason" her foot got caught and she fell over, then stuck under the vehicle.
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[deleted] Mar 16, 2026 -19
[deleted]
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joemoffett12 Mar 16, 2026 +102
Why would your first instinct be to believe she deserved to die for walking near a float. Why would she deserve that and why would that be your first thought. Both are troubling to me. Get some help.
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myislanduniverse Mar 16, 2026 +56
You know that was a real human with people who loved her?
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[deleted] Mar 16, 2026 +1
[removed]
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nugbuzzed Mar 16, 2026 +18
the deleted accounts comment was something along the lines of "my first thought is Darwin awards" or some shit like that
18
bigtimejohnny Mar 16, 2026 +182
I was in that parade, toward the rear. They told us it was paused "for a car accident. I thought, "we're going 3 mph, tops. How bad could it be?"
182
The100th_Idiot Mar 16, 2026 +107
Although parade floats are slow, some can be incredibly heavy, and even at 3mph are not able to stop immediately. Often the drivers of the parade floats have almost no visibility except for what is directly ahead, so if someone behind the driver gets pulled under the float, the driver has very little chance of knowing until its too late. Very sad. I remeber a few years ago something similar happened to a young child.
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bimbo_baggins_ Mar 16, 2026 +19
A child died in a parade a few years ago near me too. So sad.
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Mojo141 Mar 21, 2026 +1
It happened at Disney world with a character in costume, who already has limited vision, fell under the float and was killed.
1
Barbarossa7070 Mar 16, 2026 +25
I saw the start of the parade and told my friend that all the people wandering alongside the floats was a bad idea.
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Nintendo1964 Mar 16, 2026 +53
What a terrible way to go.
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Realistic_Tomato_437 Mar 16, 2026 +23
Awful. My partner and I have towed a parade float carrying VFW veterans in several Memorial Day parades and I would get so anxious about it that I’d ride in the bed of the truck with our back window rolled down so I could keep an eye on everything and yell if something were to happen. Not a perfect solution in the slightest because things can happen in an instant. So sorry to their family and everyone that experienced this.
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phoenix0r Mar 17, 2026 +8
Friend from high school broke her leg after falling off a float. I feel like that was best case scenario for her in that situation.
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gntrr Mar 16, 2026 +15
This feels just like a final destination-type death.
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[deleted] Mar 16, 2026 -4
[deleted]
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SpecAST Mar 16, 2026 +17
What an awful thing to say. She was very close to our family and she was such an amazing person and for you to say that is just appalling
17
swimmityswim Mar 16, 2026 -95
You americans just do it differently than we do
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Zaptryx Mar 16, 2026 +41
Where are you from? Here in Germany, our parades are indistinguishable from american ones.
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Dry-Amphibian1 Mar 16, 2026 +19
How do you do parades?
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PoliticsIsDepressing Mar 16, 2026 +25
I don’t know, I went to carnival in the Netherlands and people got stupid close to tractors and massive floats as candy was thrown everywhere. Kids would be like a foot away from massive tires driving ~5 mph.
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[deleted] Mar 16, 2026 +9
[deleted]
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swimmityswim Mar 16, 2026 -18
Fewer people died
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SpecAST Mar 16, 2026 +34
F*** you. I knew her
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needless_booty Mar 16, 2026 +7
I am so sorry for your loss
7
KillDozer321 Mar 17, 2026 -10
I HATE bald boys. I can’t stand bald boys.
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[deleted] Mar 16, 2026 -19
[deleted]
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Hayabusa_Blacksmith Mar 16, 2026 +20
Parade during the weekend because it isn't a natl holiday 🤔
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[deleted] Mar 16, 2026 -3
[deleted]
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Hayabusa_Blacksmith Mar 16, 2026 +19
its definitely not a week long thing lol. we dont get March 17 off, thats why parades aim for weekends
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Tommyblockhead20 Mar 16, 2026 -5
People will put up decorations and eat Irish food over an extended period of time, just major events like parades are a single day.
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S-O-Y-C-D Mar 16, 2026 -44
...but did she wear any green? Sad.
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