A 13-year-old boy was pierced through his shoulder by a runaway beach umbrella in Massachusetts, officials said.

The boy was walking along the shore when he was impaled by the flying object, witnesses told Gloucester Fire Department paramedics.

Several sunbathers ran to his aid after he fell to the ground. "When I saw that, I started to run down and when I got there, there was like a hole in the kid's arm," Jacob Vargus told WHDH-TV. "So I started to talk to him, another lady started tying a tourniquet while others were calling the paramedics," he said. 

Beach umbrellas can pose a serious risk if they are not anchored properly, and though instances of flying projectiles are uncommon, they can have serious consequences.

"People don't dig them down firmly, and they can impale you," beachgoer Mike Marnoto told the station. "Hopefully, it's a lesson for people at the beach to seriously dig their umbrella poles in the ground so they don't come out and hurt anybody."

When paramedics arrived, the boy was calm and the umbrella had been removed. He was taken to a local hospital and his injuries were non-life-threatening, according to the fire department.

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