OCEAN CITY, Md.- On Sunday afternoon a 46-year-old woman was impaled by a runaway umbrella on the beach at 54th Street in Ocean City.
She was flown to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury where she stayed overnight and was treated for her injuries.
Ocean City Beach Patrol Capt. Butch Arbin said the woman is thankful for all the thoughts and prayers and she is doing OK.
"It went in from her left side, went a little bit across her chest,, below the collarbone," Arbin said. "It was like a big splinter, like an inch and a half."
However, there is a technique to properly securing an umbrella in the sand.
Drew Haugh, owner of Sun Fun Beach Service, said some people think you can just throw it in the sand and it will stay put.
"You really have to get it down in there, you want to at least get it in a couple of feet and that's hard to do," Haugh said. "You have to rock it back and forth and you have to have it tilted right into the wind."
These types of accidents are rare but they do happen. Beach Patrol reminds beachgoers that your umbrella is your responsibility.
Visitors like Doug Craggs told his wife that wanted an umbrella up that it is just too risky.
"The umbrellas are way too dangerous," Craggs said. "They can dig them as far as they want but the wind catches it at a certain angle and they're going to go flying."
Other visitors like Steven Harlow rented an umbrella, which is unusual for him.
"This is the first time in over 30 years that I didn't set my umbrella up; I trusted the experts to do it for me today." Harlow said.
People are taking that extra step for the sake of safety, especially on windy days like Monday.