Elderly Woman Killed After Beach Umbrella Swept By Strong Wind Impaled Her Chest

A 63-year-old South Carolina woman was killed in a freak accident after a beach umbrella, carried by the wind, struck and impaled her in the chest on Aug. 10, according to the Horry County Coroner’s office.

Tammy Perreault was visiting Garden City beach in South Carolina, when
strong winds blew a beach umbrella from its anchoring and pierced through her chest, Horry County chief deputy coroner Tamara Willard said.

Tammy was with her husband, Mike Perreault, and four of their friends when the tragedy happened.

"It was a regular breezy day, no other umbrellas or beach blankets or anything got foiled," Mike told NBC News. "Just this one umbrella."

The umbrella came flying from about 40 feet away and everyone ducked, except for Tammy, Mike recalled.

"It went through her arm into her rib cage," he said. "She bled out in maybe 30 or 40 seconds."

Tammy was rushed to an area emergency room where she died less than an hour after the accident from chest trauma, Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard said.

Tammy and Mike had been married for 27 years.

"She was one of a kind," Mike said tearfully.

"It was just her and I all the time," he said. "Our friends said if you saw Mike, you saw Tammy, and if you saw Tammy, you saw Mike. Tammy loved everybody, she never had a bad word for anybody at all."

Beach umbrellas have a spiky end to help hold them in the sand and their large canopy can get swept up by a high wind if they are not anchored properly.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 3,000 individuals are hurt by beach umbrellas annually,

The government agency stated in a statement that it is looking into the deadly incident.

"CPSC staff is also actively collaborating with a standard development group in the aim of creating a standard which might help establish the specifications for dependable and secure beach umbrellas and anchoring systems," the agency added.