I used to think movies like Final Destination were works of fiction. But stories like this remind me that freak accidents can happen in real life as well. A lifeguard was impaled with a beach umbrella while at a New Jersey beach. It's a chilling incident pulled straight out of a horror movie.
WABC reported on the tragic and scary incident, which happened at Asbury Park's 3rd Avenue Beach on June 25. So what happened? Well, John Bongiovanni, an Asbury Park beach safety supervisor, told the Asbury Park Press the incident happened out of no where. At the time, lifeguards had been installing umbrellas on the beach.
That's when the lifeguard in question was impaled. The umbrella itself was 6 foot in length and went into the woman's upper shoulder. The end of the umbrella pierced through the other side.
Lifeguard Impaled
"As she was putting [the umbrella] in," Bongiovanni said, "a gust of wind came up and started to pull it up. So as it pulled up, she reached to try to grab it, and when she grabbed it [to] pull it down."
"I am assuming it tilted into the wind and blew it back at her," Bongiovanni continued, "and it went through the adipose tissue on the lower part of her arm."
"It was protruding by about a foot," Fire Department Chief Kevin Keddy added.
After being impaled by the umbrella, the lifeguard needed a quick response. Her fellow lifeguards came to her aid and began administering first aid. When first responders arrived, they used a bandsaw to cut the end of the umbrella. This allowed her to be loaded up into the ambulance. They then took her to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.
"She's a tough young woman," Keddy said.
Meanwhile, there's been no other updates on how the lifeguard is doing. But I sincerely hope that she recovers and manages to put this incident behind her. Beach umbrellas seem harmless enough. But they can become deadly projectiles under the right circumstances. It's not the first time something like this has happened.
