Ashley Judd is in intensive care after shattering her leg in an accident in the Congo.
Ashley Judd
The 52-year-old actress has revealed she is currently in the ICU at a hospital in South Africa after she suffered a fall which left her with a “shattered leg in four places” as well as “nerve damage” whilst in the Congo region of the continent.
She said: “[I am] in an ICU trauma unit in beautiful South Africa, which has taken me in from the Congo: a country I deeply love which is not, unfortunately, equipped to deal with massive catastrophic injuries like I have had.
"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 also highlighted her own privilege by insisting many Congolese people lack access to "a simple pill to kill the pain when you've shattered a leg in four places and have nerve damage”.
The ‘Double Jeopardy’ star then explained how she had sustained her injuries, as she said she had been out on an excursion and had been using a faulty head lamp, which made it difficult for her to see, and as a result she tripped over a fallen tree.
Ashley described the next 55 hours as "incredibly harrowing”, and said the ordeal "started with five hours of lying on the forest floor" with one of her colleagues until she was able to be evacuated.
She added: "[He had] his leg under my badly misshapen leg, [and I was] biting my stick. Howling like a wild animal."
Five hours after her accident someone arrived to reset her bones, before she was carried through the rainforest to a motorcycle, where she was driven for six hours to the city of Jolu.
After spending the night in the city, she was then flown to the capital of Kinshasa to stay for 24 hours and then, eventually, down to South Africa to be treated in an ICU in that country.
Speaking to The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof for an Instagram Live interview, 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."
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