By Leila Merrill
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. — Tammy Perreault, 63, of Surfside Beach, was impaled and killed Wednesday by a beach umbrella that was picked up by a gust of wind in Garden City, WMBF reported.
Off-duty medical professionals and good Samaritans treated Perreault for chest trauma while waiting for EMS providers to arrive, according to Thomas Bell, a spokesperson for Horry County Emergency Management.
EMS providers transported her to a hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries almost an hour after the umbrella accident.
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The kind of beach umbrella in use has a spiked end that can be pushed into sand and a wide canopy that can be caught in a strong wind, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.
The agency estimates about 3,000 people a year are injured by beach umbrellas.
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