Man Who ‘Died on the Table’ After Beach Umbrella Strike Lobbies Seaside Heights Council

Edward Quigley (Photo: Edward Quigley)

Edward Quigley “died on the table” after being airlifted to a trauma center following a strike by a beach umbrella on a crowded patch of sand in 2015, requiring his heart to be shocked back into rhythm seven times by a defibrillator and ultimately costing him his left eye.

Quigley was hit by the wind-blown umbrella while enjoying Fourth of July weekend in Bethany Beach, Del., but as the summer season draws near at the Jersey Shore, he appeared before the Seaside Heights borough council on Wednesday to urge the borough to do whatever it can to help stop another tragedy. In 2018, Shorebeat covered the story of a woman impaled by an airborne umbrella at the Hiering Avenue beach. That woman, visiting from the U.K., was impaled “entirely through her right ankle area” by an aluminum umbrella, Seaside Heights Police Detective Steve Korman said at the time. She was saved through the quick thinking of Assistant Fire Chief William Rumbolo, who provided critical first aid until the woman was brought to the hospital by EMTs. Quigley said he was struck with an umbrella shaft made of oak wood that flew directly into his head.

“I don’t want anyone else to go through the pain that I experienced or the anguish that my family felt,” he said.

---

Get Daily Island News Updates Your email address:* Please enter all required fields Correct invalid entries

Quigley, whose story has been featured by media outlets from the BBC to Inside Edition, did not come to Seaside Heights to demand new laws be passed or fines be doled out to beachgoers, but instead he lobbied for the borough to do all it can to educate visitors about the danger of beach umbrellas and how they should be secured in the windy coastal environment. Since his injury, he has partnered with a nonprofit, BeachUmbrellaSafety.org, to distribute free warning signs to towns that can be placed at beach entrances and lifeguard stands. His work has gone beyond signage, however, with addresses to the U.S. Congress on beach safety and successfully getting the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to update its guidance on beach umbrellas.

“They spent two years testing umbrellas on beaches and in wind tunnels,” Quigley said. “The conclusion that they came up with is that a beach umbrella needs an anchor device to be safe. Without an anchor device, no beach umbrella can be safe.”

For example, he said, a 7.5-foot tall beach umbrella needs 75 pounds of resistance to withstand winds up to 30 m.p.h. The set of safety standards was published in April 2024, and the CPSC adopted it in May 2024. Before last year, product guidance was – to put it lightly – rudimentary: “Stick the umbrella into the sand, rock it back and forth, and tilt it into the wind.”

“The problem is that, until the new adoption of the safety standard happened, this was the guidance that the CPSC had on their website in various versions for a coupe decades,” Quigley explained.

A Seaside Heights Beach Patrol vehicle. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

New Jersey, in 2020, considered a bill that would require the anchoring of beach umbrellas in winds over 25 m.p.h. and mandate retailers who sell beach umbrellas post signage referring to that requirement. That measure, introduced by a legislator from Monmouth County who is no longer in office, died before it ever made it to a legislative committee. It never received a vote.

Quigley is spending this winter and spring season addressing city councils and lifeguard squads up and down the east coast to pitch his own signage plan before the start of summer. The signs are provided for free – one for each entrance and lifeguard stand – and quickly explain the risk posed by unanchored umbrellas.

“My ask is that we put up some safety signs at the beach access points and at safety stands that tell people visiting the beach that there is danger,” he told council members. “I’ve never missed a summer at the beach, and almost every summer I’ve grabbed an umbrella that was blowing down the beach. I never thought it was that dangerous until this happened.”

Council President Richard Tompkins recalled the 2018 incident and said he was interested in implementing the signage program. A sample sign was provided to Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz, who will review it and see whether it can be implemented for the coming season.