A 67-year-old tourist from London, England, was sunbathing on a New Jersey beach on Monday when she was impaled by an aluminum beach umbrella, numerous outlets report.
The woman — identified as Margaret Reynolds — was sent to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune after part of the umbrella hit and pierced through her right ankle “due to the force of the wind,” Seaside Heights Police Detective, Steve Korman, told The Asbury Park Press.
A man sitting just feet from Reynolds told NJ Advance Media that the umbrella went flying after “just a gust of wind.” He recalled, “It got really windy and I could see an umbrella pass by. I heard someone scream ‘my leg, my leg’ and I looked over and I could see what happened.”
Borough Police Chief Tommy Boyd told the Park Press that fire crews had to use a bolt cutter to remove the umbrella before Reynolds was able to be transported to the hospital in good condition.
Seaside Heights Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Donna Sellman, a spokeswoman for Jersey Shore University Medical center, released a statement on Reynolds’ behalf, according to the Park Press.
“It was a beautiful day and a gust of wind blew the umbrella,” Reynolds’ statement said. “It was just an accident.”
On Wednesday, Santa Monica, California, lifeguard captain Julio Rodriguez spoke to Good Morning America about beach umbrella best practices, noting that an umbrella should be at least 16 inches down in the sand.
“You can either use a shovel to dig the hole deep enough to set the stick and pack it in,” he told GMA, “or once you drive the stick into the sand, rock it back and forth. That typically gets it in deeper into the sand.”
Incidents with beach umbrellas are frequent.
Lynn Stevens, who was hit by a beach umbrella on a Maryland beach in 2010, told GMA that “the wind picked it straight up in the air and it shot right back down and it went right into my thigh.”
Stevens added, “Luckily someone on the beach was watching and tried to catch the umbrella for me.”
Ed Quigley, a man who says that the oak shaft of a windblown beach umbrella penetrated his left eye on May 7, 2015, created a website, Beach Umbrella Safety, to warn people of the dangers and offer safety tips. He suggests purchasing the BeachBub, which puts a large amount of weight at the base of the umbrella.
And, according to The Washington Post, a woman in Virginia was killed in 2016 when she was hit by a beach umbrella.
Lottie Michelle Belk was at a Virginia Beach, Virginia, beach celebrating her birthday when she was struck.
The newspaper reported that numerous outlets confirmed with Donna Price, an administrator for the medical examiner’s Tidewater District, that the cause of death for Belk was penetrating blunt force chest trauma.