Female lifeguard impaled with beach umbrella in freak accident
A young female lifeguard was impaled by a six-foot-long beach umbrella in a freak accident that left first responders scrambling to help her on a Jersey Shore.
The tragic incident occurred as temperatures surged on the 3rd Avenue Beach on Wednesday in Asbury Park, New Jersey just after 9:30am.
Officials believe the 20-year-old lifeguard fell off her chair as she was trying to set the large chair umbrella into place.
Speaking to 7Online, lifeguard Joe Bongiovanni said: 'It was just a freak thing, as she was putting it in, the gust caught it, pulled it up, so when she grabbed it she was off-balance.
'She was on the top step of the bench, so she fell backwards off the bench and the umbrella came with her when she came down and landed on her arm.'
According to Asbury Park Fire Chief Kevin Keddy, the lifeguard was struck with such force that the metal stake of the umbrella penetrated under her left armpit and burst through her back, sticking out almost one foot.
What followed was an agonizing and complex rescue. Lifeguards and EMS crews quickly arrived but realized there was no way to safely move the victim while she was still impaled.
Paramedics and firefighters brought in a portable bandsaw and had to cut the stake at the entry and exit points in order to fit her into the ambulance without causing further trauma.
Chief Keddy said: 'The umbrella went underneath her left shoulder and out the back. It was protruding by about a foot.'
First responders went onto the sands, shielding the woman from the sun with towels and umbrellas of their own while carefully slicing away the metal rod with surgical precision.
Keddy said: 'We had to saw off the stake from the front and the back to make it more manageable. We bandaged her up and transported her to the hospital.'
Despite the horror of her injuries, officials said the woman was 'conscious, alert, and in good spirits - all things considered,' as she was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
Beach umbrellas have a spiked end to help better secure them into the sand as their wide canopy allows them to get caught up in a strong wind if they are not anchored properly, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.
With their spiked ends and large surface areas, a sudden gust can transform them into airborne spears.
The federal agency estimates about 3,000 people are injured by windblown beach umbrellas every year.
In 2022, 63-year-old Tammy Perreault was killed in South Carolina when an umbrella broke free from its anchoring and impaled her in the chest.
Similarly, in 2016, Lottie Michelle Belk, 55, died on a Virginia Beach after a loose umbrella struck her in the torso.
Such tragic accidents have sparked renewed calls for stricter regulations on beach umbrella safety, including mandatory sand anchors, public awareness campaigns, and designated 'umbrella zones' where people must secure canopies properly or face fines.
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