Young New Jersey lifeguard impaled by 1.8m beach umbrella in horror incident
WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAIL
A young female lifeguard has suffered a gruesome injury after becoming deeply impaled on the stake of a beach umbrella.
The lifeguard was on duty at a New Jersey beach when a 1.8m umbrella speared through her upper body around 9.30am on Wednesday, local time.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“The umbrella went underneath her left shoulder and out the back,” Asbury Park Fire Chief Kevin Keddy told the New York Post.
“It was protruding by about a foot.”
The woman told authorities the umbrella flew off the lifeguard stand at Third Avenue Beach, and when she went to keep it from falling, it struck her.
“As she lifted it up to put it in the hole that’s in the bench there, a gust of wind caught it and pulled her backward a little bit,” her supervisor, Joe Bongiovanni, told news12.
“She tried to re-grab it, lost her balance and fell over backwards, as she fell over backward, the umbrella came down and impaled her arm.”
She was found on the ground near the lifeguard stand with the stake of the umbrella sticking out of her. Fellow lifeguards rushed to her aid and called paramedics.
The stake was so deeply embedded in her body, emergency crews had to use a bandsaw to cut it so she could fit into the ambulance.
“We had to saw off the stake from the front and the back to make it more manageable. We bandaged her up and transported her to the hospital,” Mr Keddy said.
Incredibly, the victim was conscious throughout the ordeal as she was rushed to Jersey Shore University Hospital.
“She’s a tough young woman,” Mr Keddy said. She is reportedly in a stable condition.
