How a beach umbrella fatally impaled a woman with 800 pounds of force
Strong winds can turn the most innocent objects — like branches and car dealership signs — into lethal weapons. Now, we can add beach umbrellas to the list.
A 55-year-old woman died after a windblown beach umbrella hit her in the chest with about 800 pounds of force, according to new research. The freak accident happened so quickly that the woman’s companion didn’t even see the umbrella hit her. (A bystander, however, did.) The companion “noted only that the woman was gasping for breath and was unable to speak,” according to the paper published last week in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. The victim was taken to the hospital but died within an hour.
Though this marks the first recorded death by an airborne beach umbrella, bizarre…
