By Annie Andrews aandrews@nebraska.tv
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Five people remain hospitalized Saturday night after a car careened into Aurora's town pride parade route. The accident happened just as town residents took to the streets to view the A'ror'n Days Parade. Officials call it a tragedy that fortunately has not taken any lives.
"We were waiting for the parade to get started and we heard a car crash into another car," said Travis Dahlin, a father who witnessed the accident. When Dahlin heard that noise he said he turned and looked.
"We heard it speed up and hit the curb really hard," he said. Nola Hodgson, an 86-year-old retired first grade teacher was behind the wheel of the runaway car. She crossed the intersection of 7th and M and her tire tracks say the rest.
"People screamed before it hit the tree," said Dahlin.
Nola hit five people before her car came to a stop. One woman broke her leg, others suffered minor injuries. "I went over there to see if I could do anything to help," said Dahlin. "There were people helping because the parade was right there."
In fact, the miracle here was the location of the accident, just blocks away from the start of the parade. A parade led by law enforcement, the fire department, paramedics and even the mayor.
"We saw a tremendous response from the Police Department, ambulance, as well as civilians who were there present and who could assist medical personnel that just happened to be in the area," said Mayor Marlin Seeman.
The mayor said he gave candy to kids as a distraction to the accident, as one woman grabbed blankets to help cover the injuries of the bystanders.
"They did a good job making sure people were calm," said Dahlin. Staying cool, calm and collected could be one reason everyone was in stable condition Saturday night; that includes Nola.
But for parade go-ers it was still a scary start to what was supposed to be a happy day.
"We were only about a half-block away, I am glad we weren't on that curb," said Dahlin, thinking about his children possibly being struck.
A witness on scene said Nola was slumped over the wheel and not moving, some believe she could have had medical complications causing the accident. At this time Aurora Police Department says the cause is under investigation, hoping to have more information Sunday.
