Peconic Bay paddleboarder rescued after leg impaled, police say

A Babylon woman had to be rescued from Peconic Bay after she fell from her paddleboard and her leg became impaled on a submerged mushroom-shaped mooring anchor, police said.

Brenda Mayo, 58, fell off the board about 6:50 p.m. Tuesday about 50 feet from shore off Nassau Point in Cutchogue, Southold Town police said.

Firefighters from the Cutchogue Fire Department used extraction tools to remove her from the water and she was airlifted by a Suffolk police medi-vac helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital, police said.

No information on Mayo's condition was available.

Mushroom anchors have a bowl-shaped head with a shank welded to its center. They work best in mud, sand, silt or other soft ocean bottoms where they can be easily buried. Once buried, a mushroom mooring may be able to hold up to 10 times its weight.