Woman Impaled By Umbrella In Seaside Heights Is Identified

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ - A woman who was on the beach at the Jersey Shore was seriously hurt Monday afternoon after she was impaled by an umbrella, police said.

The 67-year-old woman from London, United Kingdom was identified as Margaret Reynolds, according to Seaside Heights Detective Steven Korman.

Stevens told nj.com the winds were fairly calm until a rogue wind lifted the umbrella from the sand and pierced her all the way through her right ankle.

"It was a beautiful day and a gust of wind blew the umbrella," Margaret Reynolds, 67, said in a statement to NJ Advance Media as she continued to recover at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. "It was just an accident."
Reynolds is good condition, hospital spokeswoman Donna Sellmann said.

Ricky Zepeda was sitting near to Reynolds when the incident happened.

"It got really windy and I could see an umbrella pass by," he told nj.com. "I heard someone scream 'my leg, my leg' and I looked over and I could see what happened."

The incident happened near Hiering Avenue Monday. The woman had to be taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center after the force of the wind apparently blew a section of an umbrella all the way through her right ankle, Korman said.

Police responded to a first aid call at 4:30 p.m. and found the 67-year-old woman had an umbrella impaled through her ankle, he said.

Seaside Heights Assistant Fire Chief William Rumbolo responded to the scene and cut the aluminum stretcher from the frame of the umbrella so the woman could be taken to the medical center by the Tri-Boro First Aid Squad, Korman said.

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