A woman who was severely injured when a balloon swept out of control at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1997 has reached a settlement with the department store, the city and a city contractor, ending a lawsuit that has lingered for nearly three years.

The woman, Kathleen Caronna, was in a coma for 24 days after the accident during the nationally televised parade. She was injured after a six-story-tall Cat in the Hat balloon, caught in winds that gusted at more than 40 miles per hour, struck a light pole at 72nd Street and Central Park West, causing the pole's horizontal arm to break off and showering debris on paradegoers.

Mrs. Caronna, an investment analyst who was 33 then, suffered a head injury so severe that she nearly died.

The lawsuit, which was filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, asked for $95 million in compensatory damages from the city, Macy's and the manufacturer of the lamppost that struck Mrs. Caronna. It also sought an additional $300 million in punitive damages from Macy's.