Woman injured by boat float in Covington

Emergency workers tend to Sandra Bazor of Abita Springs after she was struck by a float during the Covington Lions Club parade on Tuesday.

Woman injured by boat float in Covington; Fat Tuesday otherwise goes smoothly in St. Tammany Parish

Posted by Benjamin Alexander-Bloch February 25, 2009 3:28PM

On a Fat Tuesday free of major incidents in St. Tammany Parish, something did pop off.

An Abita Springs woman dislocated her knee Tuesday morning when she got clipped by a boat float during the Covington Lions Club parade.

The mishap caused a 15-minute delay in the parade, as Covington firefighters rushed to help 49-year-old Sandra Bazor. She was transported to St. Tammany Parish Hospital, where her knee was popped back into place.

Bazor had approached the float at East Boston and North New Hampshire streets to see her 9-year-old granddaughter, Jasmin Holiday, who "was all dressed up and everything," with braided hair and head-to-toe camouflage.

"She had some beads on her lap, and I hollered 'Baby Girl,' because that's what I call her, and she went around to get something else to give to me, and before I knew it the (boat trailer's) fender hit me in the back of the leg," Bazor said on Wednesday, holed up at home, where she likely will remain for several days.

She fell to the pavement and was in extreme pain, she said, realizing what had happened only because her knee had dislocated several times before, but had always realigned almost immediately afterwards without outside assistance.

Covington Police Department Capt. Jack West said the accident occurred because Bazor wasn't aware the boat trailer's frame was so wide, and that it can be dangerous when people assume such boat floats are only as wide as the trucks pulling them.

"We are now thinking about outlawing boats on the parade because of the problem with the boat fenders sticking out," he said.

Sheriff's Office officials said the Krewe of Chahta in Lacombe rolled without major mishap, and Folsom police said the Krewe of Folsom was also conducted without any significant problems.

Benjamin Alexander-Bloch can be reached at bbloch@timespicayune.com or 985.898.4827.