LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Officials identified the woman who died Saturday after she got her foot caught in a float during the St. Patrick’s Day parade in the Highlands.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office said 50-year-old Joan Pannuti Pottinger died Monday during in the incident. A cause of death wasn’t provided.
Pannuti was the parent of a student at St. Agnes Catholic School and a parishioner at St. Agnes Church, according to a remembrance post on the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Facebook page.
Aaron Ellis, a spokesperson for Louisville Metro Police, said officers responded just before 4 p.m. Saturday to the area of Bardstown Road and Grinstead Drive on a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle.
Police said Pannuti was walking alongside a float when her foot became caught, causing her to fall underneath the vehicle.
Marcus Britton, who said he was enjoying the parade just feet from where the incident happened, said everything stopped when Pannuti went down.
«Our party was sitting right here at the table as the parade was going, and the parade stopped just right there,» Britton said. «They were driving so slow you couldn’t hardly imagine someone passing away from an injury from driving at that speed.»
The vehicle stopped, and Pannuti was taken to UofL Hospital, where she died shortly after, police said.
Jefferson County Clerk David Yates was also walking in the parade several entries behind Pannuti.
«There was a holdup, and they said someone had been injured,» Yates said. «That is all we really knew. It was a really large crowd.»
Officials were expecting at least 80,000 people to attend the parade — possibly more because of the nice weather.
Britton said safety measures were in place up and down the parade route.
«We got here at 1 p.m. and we watched them set up the barricades on both sides,» he said.
In a statement from family, her husband Tony Pottinger said, «Joan, like the saint for whom she was named, was fiercely loyal and faithful. She was (and remains) the light of our lives as a mom, wife, and friend. We are a military family and before settling in our forever home in Louisville, we made multiple moves. In every community, Joan has been a passionate force for good, volunteering her time and helping those in need, including in her most recent work fundraising for Best Buddies. We are blessed at the outpouring of community support as we mourn our loss.»
A GoFundMe was posted to support the family.
According to St. Agnes, Visitation is scheduled for 1-6 p.m. Sunday, March 22 at Ratterman’s on Lexington Road. Funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, March 23 at St. Agnes.
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