Ashley Judd has revealed she almost lost her leg after enduring a “catastrophic” fall while out on an excursion in The Democratic Republic of The Congo.
The Divergent actress, 52, told how she is currently being treated in an intensive care unit in South Africa following the incident which shattered her leg.
Ashley has since said that the accident occurred when a broken headlamp made the terrain in front of her difficult to see.
The actress had been transferred to a South African hospital as hospitals in The Congo are unfortunately not properly equipped to deal with such traumatic incidents.
Ashley is currently being treated at an ICU ward in South Africa (Image: Getty Images)
Speaking from her hospital bed to The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof, she said that she had been “taken from the Congo”, a country she “deeply loves”.
She went on to add: “And the difference between a Congolese person and me is disaster insurance that allowed me 55 hours after my accident to get to an operating table in South Africa.”
Ashley explained that her leg had been broken in “four places” causing her to suffer from “nerve damage”, noting that she was privileged as Congolese people don’t have access to a wide range of medical essentials, such as painkillers.
The actress broke her leg in four places during her excursion (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Speaking of the traumatic accident, she recalled it being “harrowing adding that she lay on the forest floor for approximately five hours.
“With his [colleague’s] leg under my badly misshapen leg, biting my stick. Howling like a wild animal,” she said as she held up her walking stick.
People reported that at the final hour, somebody came to help and reset her leg bones in to place as she was passing out due to the excruciating pain.
She had to be transferred to South Africa as hospitals in The Congo are not equipped to deal with such huge traumas (Image: X01440)
Before a six-hour-long motorbike ride to a hospital, Ashely was “carried out of the rainforest by my Congolese brothers, who were doing it barefoot, up and over hills, through the river.”
After spending 24 hours at a hospital in Kinshasa, she eventually jetted to South Africa for treatment.
She said: “I’m in a lot of love. I’m in a lot of compassion and I’m in a lot of gratitude.
“I thank everyone for their thoughts and their prayers and their support.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
