Romantic balloon ride nearly turns deadly

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June 8, 2012

Romantic balloon ride nearly turns deadly

Anonymous CNHI News Service The Daily Star Fri Jun 08, 2012, 11:24 AM EDT

BORDEN, Ind. — A romantic hot air balloon ride and a marriage proposal nearly turned tragic as the balloon collided with power lines.

Police and emergency crews were called Wednesday to a rural area about 20 miles north of Louisville, Ky., where the balloon had landed and authorities found the pilot unconscious and the passengers sustaining minor burns.

According to a Clark County Sheriff’s report, the pair took off from a church in Memphis, Ind., and during the flight Martin Newsome proposed to Sheri Games. After they spent a while in the air, Dallas Beall landed the balloon in a field.

As the balloon lifted off facing directly into the sun, the basket struck a power line. The ensuing shock threw Beall into Games, knocking him unconscious and stopped his breathing.

A ground crew shouted instructions to the couple on how to land the balloon, according to the report.

Beall received immediate care and was air-lifted to University of Louisville Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Games was treated for minor burns.

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Details for this story were provided by the News and Tribune in Jeffersonville, Ind.