Authorities are issuing an important reminder about staying safe at the beach after an umbrella nearly impaled a 2-year-old at a South Carolina beach.

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A woman was filming her son playing at Myrtle Beach when a sudden gust of wind brought the sharp tip of an umbrella within inches of him, WSOC-TV reported.

The woman said all she could do was watch in horror.

"You should always consider what or who is downwind of you -- highway, parking lot, other people. Always take that into consideration before setting up umbrellas," Ocean Life Guard Capt. Julio Rodriguez said.

Officials said the little boy was not injured, but near misses are not uncommon.

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Former Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman talks to her daughter, Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss, a former Georgia election worker, after she testified before the U.S. House Select Committee at its fourth hearing on its Jan. 6 investigation on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)

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