La Pine girl recovering from fall off parade float

A festive night in La Pine — the annual Christmas Lights Parade — turned frightening when a 9-year-old La Pine girl fell off a float and was run over, suffering several injuries, family members said Sunday.

Samantha “Sammy” Sheeran was riding on a float during Saturday night’s event when she fell off and was run over by a wheel of a trailer, said her uncle, Glen Stevens.

La Pine Fire Chief Mike Supkis said Monday the incident was reported around 6:50 p.m. Saturday, at the end of the parade.

Someone “got the attention of … Engine Company 123 that a child had fallen off a float in the area of Second Street and Morson”:Street, Supkis told NewsChannel 21. Around the same time, Deschutes County 911 dispatchers got a call reporting the same incident, “but the location was unsure,” the fire chief said.

Medics at the parade and from Station 101 responded, evaluated the patient “and then a parent transported to the hospital ER for further evaluation and treatment,” the fire chief said, unable to provide medical details due to federal patient privacy and confidentiality laws.

The girl’s grandmother, Christine Applegate, said Monday that Sammy was doing better, in good spirits, laughing and joking, though there’s no word yet when she might be released.

Ann Gawith, executive director of the La Pine Chamber, the parade organizers, said they are investigating what happened.

“It was an unfortunate accident — that much we know, of course,” she said. “And the La Pine Chamber really wants the family and Samantha to know that our heartfelt wishes are with her for a speedy recovery.”

“I guess it was a miracle,” said Applegate, was not at the parade. “The tire was on top of her. Some man came out of nowhere and actually lifted it up off her, and someone else pulled her out” from underneath.

At the scene, the injuries appeared to be a fractured or broken leg, Applegate said. But after Sammy’s mother, Carolyn Sheeran, took her to the St. Charles Bend emergency room, doctors determined she was bleeding internally.

Stevens said the girl suffered three breaks to her pelvis, as well as a fractured leg, broken foot and several bruises and abrasions.

“She’s been in so much pain,” Applegate said late Sunday. “The next couple days will see. If the bleeding stops, it’s a good sign.”

The family has begun a GoFundMe page to help with medical bills.