The owner of a popular Jersey Shore hot dog stand says that he is lucky to be alive after he was injured when a car crashed into his business.

Jerry LaCrosse was covered in debris when a car crashed into the Der Wunder Wiener hot dog stand in Beachwood on June 11.

“I heard the loudest noise I’ve ever heard in my life,” LaCrosse says. “I saw things coming at me. The grill, the fryer…I don’t recall seeing part of the car, but I know something hit me.”

LaCrosse was inside the hot dog standing taking inventory just before the crash.

“I have a dislocated shoulder. I have some internal injuries and it’s going to take some time to get better. But I intend to get better,” he says.

The 73-year-old has spent the last four weeks living and undergoing treatment at the Meridian Subacute Rehabilitation facility in Wall Township. He says that when he first arrived he could only move his toes and was afraid that he would never walk again. But he improved greatly thanks to his physical therapists.

“It’s nice to see someone go from being that dependent to walking out the front door,” says physical therapist Dr. Melissa Theall.

LaCrosse will be released from the facility this weekend but will continue his recovery.

“I can stand up now. I can walk around this place on my own and that’s in less than a month,” he says.

LaCrosse will soon be presented with a check from a fundraiser hosted earlier this month organized by local police unions.

He says that he plans to reopen Wunder Wiener in the same spot along Route 9.