Rogue beach umbrella impales woman through the chest on windy day, officials say

A Maryland woman’s trip to the beach took a horrifying turn when a rogue umbrella suddenly took flight and impaled her through the chest Sunday, officials said.

Police said an unattended rental umbrella became dislodged and impaled the woman around 3 p.m. Sunday, according to The Daily Times

Lifeguards and bystanders came to her aid and held down the umbrella so it would stop flying around, according to the paper.

“Witnesses said one gust lifted the umbrella,” Ocean City town spokesperson Jessica Waters told the Washington Post. She told the paper that lifeguards routinely tried to remind people of the importance of securing umbrellas.

Fire officials arrived and sliced off part of the umbrella, but were afraid to remove the rest of the pole because they feared doing so could cause more damage to her body, WPVI reported.

A Maryland State Police helicopter arrived near the scene and flew the woman to Peninsula Regional Medical Center for non life-threatening injuries, according to The Daily Times.

Officials told WPVI they would be doing X-rays to determine how to best remove the rest of the pole from the woman’s body.

It’s the second umbrella-impalement incident in the U.S. within a week. A British woman was impaled through her ankle by a flying umbrella July 16 after it was propelled through the air by a gust of wind in New Jersey, the AP reported .

Responders had to use a bolt cutter to remove part of the umbrella and get the woman into an ambulance, according to the AP. She was released from the hospital a short time later, CNN reported.

This story was originally published July 23, 2018 at 7:11 AM with the headline "Rogue beach umbrella impales woman through the chest on windy day, officials say."