His wife was impaled by a beach umbrella. Now SC man is suing the manufacturer.

The husband of the Garden City Beach woman, who was impaled by a beach umbrella in Garden City in 2022, sued the umbrella manufacturer Aug. 15. File/Grace Beahm Alford/Staff

GARDEN CITY — A year after a Garden City woman was impaled by a beach umbrella, her widower filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturer.

Michael Perreault, representing the estate of Tammy Perreault, is suing East Coast Umbrella Inc. for designing, developing, manufacturing and selling the "spear-like" umbrella that struck and killed his wife Aug. 10, 2022, according to court records.

The umbrella had been carried along by the wind on Garden City Beach.

After she was struck, Tammy Perreault was taken to Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital, where she died of chest trauma. Her death was ruled accidental, according to the Horry County Coroner's Office. The accident garnered national media attention.

Perreault claims the umbrella lacked proper safeguards to keep it anchored in the sand, and that the company provided no warnings or signs of what could happen if the umbrella became unweighted and unanchored, according to the lawsuit filed Aug. 15.

"As a result of Defendant’s negligence, gross negligence and recklessness, Decedent Tammy Perreault suffered severe bodily injuries including her ultimate death," the lawsuit states.

East Coast Umbrella did not respond to a request for comment.

In the lawsuit, Perreault claims East Coast Umbrella created the product so that it would be used on or near the beach, but it became defective when it went airborne the day of the accident.

He also accused the manufacturer of creating an umbrella design that was "unreasonably dangerous, inadequate, unsafe, hazardous and defective," according to the lawsuit.

Regarding the design, he said the umbrella was unweighted and unanchored, lacked any proper safeguards to keep it anchored in the sand, and had a "spear-like" end, which increased the risk of danger to the public, according to the lawsuit.

He said he and his wife did not know about the umbrella's defects as they walked on the beach that day, and he said the defects ultimately led to the accident.

"Perreault has lost the aid, comfort, companionship, support and society of his wife, Tammy Perreault, and (he) has suffered extreme emotional distress, anxiety, grief, and sorrow, for which he is entitled to recover damages," according to the lawsuit.

Since the accident, Horry County officials have been hesitant about making any changes to its beach shading rules on its unincorporated beaches.

Horry County only allows umbrellas up to 7 to 9 feet in diameter from Memorial Day to Labor Day. They don't allow large tents or wind-driven shades.

On April 11, Horry officials rejected requests from popular wind-driven tent companies Shibumi and Solbello, which sell shades that flutter in the wind like flags, to exempt their products from the umbrellas-only policy. The officials had cited safety concerns for why they did not support the exemptions.

As of Aug. 17, County Council has no plans to discuss changing its beach shading policy, according to county officials.

Each year, around 3,000 Americans are hospitalized for injuries related to all types of umbrellas, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Between 2010 and 2018, about 2,800 people were treated for injuries caused by a wind-blown umbrella.

Between 2009 and 2018, over 32,000 people were injured in umbrella-related incidents in the US, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

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