Teen impaled by beach umbrella in Gloucester

A 13-year-old boy was impaled in the upper arm by a flying beach umbrella on Gloucester’s Good Harbor Beach, but was quickly cared for by an off-duty nurse and lifeguards.

The boy was hit at about 1:30 p.m. Friday on a perfect, but windy beach day, eyewitnesses said.

“That umbrella went flying,” said Mike Marnoto of Gloucester, who said he was on the beach with his 1-yearold daughter. “It was terrible. I saw the whole thing.

“The poor kid was hit and went running with blood coming down his shoulder. He was screaming in pain,” Marnoto told the Herald. “He ran about 10 yards and collapsed.”

That’s when others came to his aid, including an offduty nurse while others called the lifeguards over, a Gloucester official told reporters. They all helped stop the bleeding and the teen was quickly taken away. One Good Samaritan was seen applying a tourniquet to the boy’s arm to help stop the flow of blood.

Marnoto, who called Good Harbor Beach the “best in the world,” said people need to be more vigilant when it comes to securing their umbrellas.

“It happens more than you think. It’s crazy. People don’t tie them down,” he said. “It’s awful what happened to that kid. He could have been hit in the face or the chest. People need to dig down deep and secure their poles.”

A Gloucester fire official said stopping the bleeding was the key — along with the teen remaining calm.

Paramedics found the teen at Boardwalk 3, where they took over and then brought him to Beverly Hospital.