Flying Umbrella Fatally Impales South Carolina Beachgoer in the Chest in Freak Accident
Tammy Perreault was enjoying a day at the beach with her husband and friends when a powerful gust of wind sent the umbrella flying. “I’ll never forget it. I think about it every minute. Her life was just cut so short. It’s just not fair,” a friend says.
A 63-year-old woman has died after being speared in the chest by a flying umbrella while enjoying a day at the beach.
Tammy Perreault was with her husband and friends near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when a powerful gust of wind sent the umbrella airborne. Her friends screamed and ducked, but it was too late for Perrault. The sharp end of the pole struck and impaled her.
Her husband Mike is reeling after the tragic accident.
“It was just a regular day with all our beach friends, and then this happened,” Mike said.
Devastated, he wants beachgoers to be on alert.
“Keep your eyes open. It could have been a 10-year-old kid, and it just so happened that it was my wife,” Mike said on "Good Morning America."
Tammy’s friend, Sherry White, was there and witnessed the incident.
“I’ll never forget it. I think about it every minute. Her life was just cut so short. It’s just not fair,” White told the outlet.
Sarah Schermerhorn Murphy, who specializes in umbrella safety at beachBUB, demonstrated how to secure an umbrella in the sand. She used a special tool called a sand gopher to dig a hole and says that an anchor is essential.
Experts say if the wind at the beach reaches 15 to 20 miles per hour, take your umbrella down, because nothing will anchor it in wind gusts that strong.