A beachgoer was killed Wednesday after a unfastened seaside umbrella impaled her within the chest, authorities in South Carolina stated.
The umbrella was blown from its anchoring by the wind round 12:40 p.m. and hit Tammy Perreault whereas she was at a Backyard Metropolis seaside, Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard informed CBS affiliate WBTW-TV.
Perreault, 63, died about an hour later on the hospital from chest trauma, Willard stated.
Seashore umbrellas have a spiked finish to assist push them into the sand and their broad cover permits them to get caught up in a powerful wind if they don't seem to be anchored correctly, the U.S. Client Product Security Fee stated.
The federal company estimates about 3,000 persons are injured by seaside umbrellas yearly.
U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia requested the protection company to overview security guidelines for seaside umbrellas and begin a security marketing campaign after a 55-year-old Virginia girl was killed by an umbrella in 2016.
Based on a examine printed within the Journal of Security Analysis in 2021, the vast majority of sufferers with seaside and patio umbrella accidents handled at emergency departments had been girls over the age of 40.
"Essentially the most often reported damage was laceration adopted by contusions or abrasions and inside organ damage, and the physique half with the best proportion of accidents was the top/neck adopted by the higher extremity," the examine sai