According to investigators, a lady was killed on Wednesday in Garden City, South Carolina, when a stray beach umbrella pierced her in the chest.
Tammy Perreault, 63, was struck in the chest by the umbrella after it was pushed by the wind from its location on the sand at roughly 12:40 pm, according to Horry County Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard.
After being brought to the Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital, Perrault passed away from her wounds.
On social media, Scotty’s Beach Bar in Surfside Beach made a post regarding Perreault and the tragedy.
The post says, “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.”
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that beach umbrellas cause injuries to around 3,000 individuals annually.
The committee said that the vast canopy of a beach umbrella makes it vulnerable to being caught in a high wind if it is not securely moored, and the spiky end is dangerous.
A flying beach umbrella similarly claimed the life of Chester, Virginia resident Lottie Michelle Belk in 2016 in Virginia Beach.
On that case, a violent gust of wind pulled up a beach umbrella that was moored in the sand and blew it into Belk’s body.
Police said that Belk, 55, was stabbed in the chest with an umbrella; penetrating blunt force trauma was determined to be the cause of death.
If not correctly moored, a beach umbrella’s large canopy might become trapped in a high wind and the spiky end can be dangerous.
