Beach Umbrella Impales Woman In Ocean City: Report

OCEAN CITY, MD — A woman was injured by a beach umbrella Sunday afternoon in Ocean City. Emergency officials removed part of the umbrella, and she was flown to an area hospital for treatment.

At 3:11 p.m., a rental umbrella impaled a Pennsylvania woman who was reportedly on the beach in the area of 54th Street in Ocean City.

After first responders removed part of the umbrella, a medevac flew the victim to Peninsula Regional Medical Center, according to WMDT, the ABC affiliate out of Salisbury, which reported part of the wooden stem was still under her skin.

Her injuries were believed to be non life-threatening, according to WTOP.

The umbrella had been rented by someone else but had not been taken back to the rental stand, so it was unattended when it impaled the woman, piercing her in the chest, the Ocean City Beach Patrol captain told the Salisbury Daily Times.

The injury occurred the same week that a woman in New Jersey was impaled by a beach umbrella. That one went through a British woman's ankle on Monday, New Jersey Patch reported.

In 2016, a woman died when she was hit by a beach umbrella in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Inside Edition ran a feature on the dangers of beach umbrellas in 2017 that highlighted victims of beach umbrella accidents including a man who lost his left eye on Bethany Beach, Delaware, and a woman impaled in the thigh by a flying umbrella in Ocean City, Maryland.

"Unfortunately, every summer the beach patrol responds to medical emergencies caused by flying umbrellas," an Ocean City Beach Patrol veteran wrote in a piece for Delmarva newspaper The Dispatch several years ago.

To minimize danger, the beach patrol advises rocking the umbrella back and forth until it is 18 to 24 inches in the sand. If renting an umbrella, people should have the operator of the beach stand set it properly; the person who sets it is held legally responsible should anything happen with the umbrella.

SEE ALSO: Woman Impaled By Umbrella In New Jersey Is Identified

File photo courtesy of Ocean City, Maryland.