A six-year-old boy is recovering in a Winnipeg hospital Sunday after a frightening accident in Winkler on Saturday.

Jason Guenther was on a float at the Winkler Harvest Festival Parade. In an instant, he fell off and was run over.

STARS Air Ambulance was called in to take him to hospital.

“The little boy decided to jump off the float to hand out the candy rather than waiting for somebody else to take him off so he could go do it,” said Winkler Mayor Martin Harder.

As the boy climbed down from the float he got caught under the wheels and was run over. Jason's mother was at work at the time, but witnesses say there was an adult supervising the boy.

"As a parent, you'd never want that to happen to any child so it's sad to hear that happened to that child," said Winkler resident Holly Hamm.

For safety reasons, the parade has a policy of not throwing candy from floats. But that didn't help in this case.

Witnesses said paramedics were less than two blocks away at the time and were on the scene within moments.

Jason was initially taken to the Boundary Trails Health Centre, but the decision was quickly made to use the STARS Air Ambulance to transport him to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

"Fortunately for this young boy, he's out of intensive care and he's doing much better," said Harder.

The owner of the restaurant that sponsored the float told CTV News it was an unfortunate tragedy and his thoughts are with the boy and his family.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority issued a statement on behalf of Jason's family on Monday, saying the six-year-old is doing fine. The family is currently declining to speak directly to media.

Float accidents have sadly been a common occurrence lately. An 18-year-old man died after he was run over by a float at last weekend's Scotiabank Caribbean carnival in Toronto.

Family and friends gathered Saturday night to remember him. Candles were lit and balloons released.  The vigil was held near the location where it happened. 

Last summer, in Preeceville, Saskatchewan, an eight-year-old boy died when he was hit by a parade float. Police said the boy jumped off the front of the trailer and was run over by the wheels.

- With a report by Ben Miljure