The Spring Hill 7

By Jack Culotta, Jr.

We were just catching up before we saw the headlights coming

toward us

Isnt it crazy that, in the blink of an eye and after being there for just five minutes, what was
just a meeting spot became the scene of a crime? It was the safest place for friends to stand
during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans. They were all doing the right thing staying
together, staying around people, and staying on the neutral ground. They were behaving as if it
was their 20th Mardi Gras in the Big Easy. For most of them, though, it was their first.

It had just gotten dark outside. It was simply a meeting spot. Two different groups of friends
from Spring Hill. Junior Rachel Marinaro and sophomores Mark Vache and Otto Candies met at
a neutral spot on Orleans Avenue for the Mid-City parade with freshmen Julia Gielniak, Joseph
Skrypkun, Chris Miramontes and Max Mattione.

Of the seven, only Candies and Marinaro had experienced the New Orleans Mardi Gras
festivities before. As it always does around the Hill, word had gotten around that many fellow
Badgers traveled to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras festivities.

Gielniak explained that she was with Vache, a former Spring Hill student, along with
sophomores Emily Booth, Martin Day and Rachel Marinaro before they linked up with the other
group of Badgers on the parade grounds. At one point, Booth and Day walked away after Day
developed a nose bleed. This random event ultimately spared Booth and Day from what
happened next. In an incident that made national news, a man drove his truck into the crowd,
resulting in the hospitalization of 28 parade-goers, including four from Spring Hill.

Since we had never been to Mardi Gras before, we made sure to stay together. We met up with
the other group and were just catching up for a few minutes before we saw the headlights coming
toward us, Gielniak said.

Chris Miramontes from Dallas described the night before and the morning leading up to what
he called the scariest moment of his life. He and Joe Skrypkun from Chicago stayed with their
friend Alli Irving, a Dallas sophomore who attends Spring Hill and has a house in New Orleans.
Miramontes parents attended Spring Hill and went to Mardi Gras while they were students at
SHC, so they had encouraged him to attend the parades during spring break.

Miramontes recalled that, on Friday when he got there, he went to a number of parades. He
said, I enjoyed the Uptown parades and had a lot of fun. I went to the parade on Saturday with
Alli, Otto and Joe. We turned at the corner of Carrollton and walked around the dump truck to
meet up with some friends. It had just gotten dark when we met up with other Spring Hill people.
We had been there for a total of five minutes before I found myself underneath the car.

According to reports, the car was driven by 25-year-old Nielsen Rizzuto, whose mugshot was
blasted across the national media immediately following the crash.

Miramontes was the only one who got a clear look at Rizzuto. He added, I looked at him and
he was really out of it. I saw the red jacket and what he was wearing, and he didnt really know
what was going on. I was really hurt, so it was just a quick glance, and I was more worried about
getting myself and my friends out of there at the time.

Being the only one of the SHC group from New Orleans, Candies disregarded the pain that he
felt from the impact in order to assist his friends and make sure everyone was taken to the
hospital. When I turned around, all I saw were the headlights. The one thing I remember was
being lifted up on one side of the
neutral ground and landing on the
other side. I looked over my
shoulder and I was underneath the
truck, so I stood up. My
adrenaline was pumping so fast
that I couldnt feel any pain, so I
took on the role to try to find
everyone.

Records from the Endymion

crash show that there were eight
out-of-state visitors who were
injured, and seven of those eight
people were Spring Hill College
students.

Candies faced a torn deltoid

ligament in the left ankle and contusions in the right and left thighs. Miramontes suffered a deep
tissue bone bruise in his right leg/knee, along with minor concussion and a head contusion.
Skrypkun was released from the hospital earlier than anyone, but only after receiving four staples
to his head from the impact. Gielniak had severe bruises to the right hip and thigh, a fractured
nose, and deep cuts to the face that had to be medically superglued. Vache sustained severe
bruising to his chest, ribs, both knees and both legs. Mattione had minor bruising.
 Rachel Marinaro suffered the worst injuries of any SHC parade participant who was affected
by the drunken drivers negligence. Both of her legs were run over by the wheels of the car,
causing severe swelling and major ligament damage in both of legs. She posted on instagram that
it was "by the grace of God" that she is alive and has no broken bones. Still, all of the SHC
students were released from the hospital in less than 24 hours, according to an announcement
from the college.

Though they all faced various injuries that ended their Mardi Gras experience abruptly and the
enjoyment of their remaining spring break time, all of the students involved, including Marinaro
say, they plan to return to New Orleans for a better and safer Mardi Gras experience in the future.