An Acadiana man who fell from a float during Mardi Gras is on the road to recovery.

Ottis Alfred, 45, suffered severe head trauma and is undergoing therapy.

His daughter, Brooklyn Alfred, said she saw when her father fell from the float.

“When I looked to the front of the truck then to the back, all I seen was my dad falling backwards.”

Alfred’s wife, Stephanie said before the accident, Alfred was walking to the back of the float to grab an umbrella that was blown away by the wind.

She tells KLFY’s Jazmin Thibodeaux that the float moved as her husband was stepping off.

“His leg got caught in between the two bars with the steps and if flipped him over and he hit his head twice on the cement.”

Since Alfred was unresponsive, his sister-in-law Laderia Celestine, a nurse, sprang into action and immediately performed CPR.

It is an act that many have saved his life.

“I did that and then he let out a big gasp for breath. He just then went like he was sleeping and I knew he had a brain injury because his head started swelling.”

She said they then put ice around his head.

Alfred had severe head injuries including a cracked skull resulting in the swelling of his brain.

He received initial treatment at Lafayette General and was later transferred to Touro in New Orleans.

Stephanie said Alfred is suffering from short-term memory loss but is showing signs of tremendous improvement.

She hopes that something is done in the future to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

“I think there should be harnesses on each float. It should be a requirement because you don’t think about it, you know someone falling off of a float, but once they fall off the float it is very deadly and harmful.”

News 10 was told that doctors said her husband is expected to make a full recovery and return home within two weeks.