Flying umbrella gores woman in chest

OCEAN CITY, Md. - Officials in a Maryland resort town say a woman was gored in the chest by a wind-blown beach umbrella.

Media outlets report Ocean City Beach Patrol Capt. Butch Arbin says the unattended rental umbrella injured the 46-year-old Pennsylvania woman on Sunday.

He says lifeguards and other beachgoers held the umbrella steady until firefighters cut off the wooden pole. They left a piece of the pole in her chest to avoid causing more damage. She was flown on a Maryland State Police helicopter to a nearby hospital so that doctors could perform X-rays to determine the best way to remove it. He said the injury was not expected to be life-threatening.

Last week, another woman was impaled in the ankle by a wind-driven beach umbrella on the New Jersey shore.  67-year-old Margaret Reynolds was at Seaside Heights when part of the umbrella pierced her right ankle and was driven completely through due to the "force of the wind."

Borough Police Chief Tommy Boyd says fire crews had to use a bolt cutter on the umbrella to free the woman and put her in an ambulance.

With the Associated Press