Newsday November 27th 1993

 Joseph Kistinger didn't even know who Sonic the Hedgehog was before he and his family saw the new balloon floating down Broadway toward 58th Street in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

The Suffolk police captain and his family will never forget who the video game character is after a gust of wind slammed the 64-foot balloon filled with more than 18,000 cubic feet of helium into the street light under which they stood.

"This thing was right over us," said Kistinger, of Rocky Point, L.I., an 18-year-veteran of the police department. "Fortunately, the glass broke first. Everything went from a festive mood to panic. People were screaming and turned toward the building behind us. I grabbed my son's head and turned. It missed my head by six inches. All I am is lucky."

Kistinger suffered a broken shoulder blade from where the globe that covers the lamp dropped 30 feet and crashed into him. A 10-year-old girl was also struck in the leg by debris, but was treated by a private doctor, New York City police said.

"I never saw the thing coming," Kistinger said. "All I remember is looking up. The next thing I know, I was on the ground. There were a couple of cops and an EMT {emergency medical technician} standing around me."

Then, as the medical technicians loaded him into the ambulance, Kistinger saw the light globe lying on the ground near the spot where he had lain on the pavement. He was taken to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center for treatment.

"I'm just grateful no one was killed or severely injured," Kistinger said. "That's all I thought about as I lay on that gurney" in the hospital.