The Jersey Shore lifeguard who was impaled by an umbrella in a freak accident is back at the beach — and itching to return to her stand.
Alex Kaus, 18, has been recovering since a gust of wind blew her off the lifeguard stand last month and sent the stake end of the beach umbrella clear through her arm — narrowly missing her artery.
Kaus is back on the Asbury Park boardwalk — albeit only checking for beach badges while her gnarly wound heals — but happy to be near the ocean and with her co-workers nearly three weeks after the gruesome injury.
18-year-old lifeguard Alex Kaus felt “very lucky” to be alive after being impaled by an umbrella. WABC“Physically, I’m pretty good,” Kaus, who wears a red bandana over her left shoulder to cover the injury, told NJ.com.
“I’m definitely one of those people who’s just like, ‘It’s all good,'” the Robbinsville native said.
The University of Wisconsin student is waiting to be medically cleared to get back on the lifeguard stand to protect swimmers, but has no definitive date for it.
“I hope to have at least like two-ish weeks on the stand before I have to go back to school,” Kaus said hopefully.
Emergency responders rush to the scene in Asbury Park, NJ. WABC
Kaus said she was “bummed” she had to take time off. Tanya Breen/Asbury Park Press / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesThe lifeguard was standing on top of a lifeguard stand last month while setting up the umbrella to beat the overwhelming heat that ripped through the region.
It is her second year on the job, and she was following standard protocol as she set up the umbrella before the freak accident.
“Two inches to the left, it would have gone through her body,” Joe Bongiovanni, the head of Asbury Park’s beach operations, said after the incident.
“I was very lucky where it hit me because it missed every major blood vessel and it just went through my muscles,” Kaus recalled afterward.
