A woman in South Carolina was tragically killed after a loose beach umbrella impaled her in the chest, according to local authorities.
Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard told news outlets that Tammy Perreault was fatally injured when the parasol on Garden City beach was blown from its anchoring on Wednesday (10 August).
Willard added that the 63-year-old tragically passed away an hour after the freak incident from chest trauma in hospital.
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Scotty's Beach Bar, where Perrault was a regular, paid tribute to her on Facebook following her devastating passing and wrote ‘no one has a bad thing to say about this woman’.
They wrote: “Today with heavy hearts we mourn the loss of a dear friend and kind hearted local, Tammy Perreault.
“Some things we will never begin to understand but what we do know is no one has a bad thing to say about this woman. To be as sweet as her day in and day out should be a goal for all.
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“If everyone can please keep the Perreault family in your hearts today especially her husband Mike. Mike, we love you and are immensely sorry for your loss”.
Notably, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates about 3,000 people are injured by beach umbrellas every year.
The federal agency previously said: “Airborne beach umbrellas can be dangerous, even deadly. Make sure your beach umbrella stays anchored in the sand!”
The agency also offers tips to ensure umbrellas, which have a spiked end to help push them into the sand, do not end up blowing towards other beachgoers if caught in a strong wind and not anchored properly.
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They suggest burying the pole at least two feet deep, tilting it into the wind and making sure that sand is packed around the base of the umbrella.
The majority of those injured by beach and patio umbrellas are women over 40, according to the Journal of Safety Research.
Previously two Virginia senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, approached the safety agency to review safety rules for beach umbrellas after a Virginia woman was killed by an umbrella in 2016.
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Topics: US News
Lisa McLoughlin