After taking a tumble from his float in the Forest Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 2, Ryan Russ bounced back from his Madison Street mishap with a mere scrape on his elbow. Russ is running for village commissioner.
“If me falling off in front of my truck determines whether or not someone votes for me, I really hope it’s not a determining factor,” Russ said. “If it is, it means, you know, I’m very resilient. I can bounce back up and the show must go on.”
Russ said he was on the top of his truck in front of Mugsy’s, singing a song he wrote for his campaign titled “24/7 Forest Park,” to the tune of Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic.” He said he attempted to run down the roof of his truck and jump to the ground while it was moving. As he jumped, Russ said he stumbled to the ground and fell forward “rather hard.”
“It was more of a move I should’ve done when I was 22 and not 42,” he said. “I don’t drink, so it’s definitely not that. Just having a good time, took one misstep and went down and continued the rest of the parade no worse for wear.”
Russ said he practiced the move during rehearsal and completed it without injury. During the fall, he said he just suffered a scraped elbow and did not seek additional medical attention.
“It’s like how they have a wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl; it’s just a misstep. It could’ve been worse,” Russ said.
Nona Tepper
