- Ashley Judd is sharing more of her “gruelling 55-hour odyssey”.
- The actor is currently recovering in South Africa after breaking her leg in Congo.
- “Without my Congolese brothers and sisters, my internal bleeding would have likely killed me,” she wrote on Instagram, sharing photos following the near-fatal injury.
Ashley Judd has taken to Instagram following her near-fatal injury.
The actor underwent surgery and has been recovering in South Africa after breaking her leg during an excursion in the Congo rainforest. She was at a research camp, studying an endangered species of apes called bonobos.
On Tuesday, sharing a series of photos from the “gruelling 55-hour odyssey”, she wrote on Instagram: “Without my Congolese brothers and sisters, my internal bleeding would have likely killed me, and I would have lost my leg. I wake up weeping in gratitude, deeply moved by each person who contributed something life-giving and spirit salving.”
Detailing what happened, she wrote: “Dieumerci stretched out his leg and put it under my grossly misshapen left leg to try to keep it still. It was broken in four places and had nerve damage.
“Dieumerci (“Thanks be to God”) remained seated, without fidgeting or flinching, for 5 hours on the rain forest floor. He was with me in my primal pain. He was my witness.”
Sharing the story of Papa Jean, she wrote: “It took 5 hours, but eventually he found me, wretched and wild on the ground, and calmly assessed my broken leg. He told me what he had to do. I bit a stick. I held onto Maud. And Papa Jean, with certainty, began to manipulate and adjust my broken bones back into something like a position I could be transported in, while I screamed and writhed.
“How he did that so methodically while I was like an animal is beyond me. He saved me. & he had to do this twice!”
Ashley shared more stories of her “heroes” before concluding: “The women! My sisters who held me. They blessed me.”
SEE HER FULL POST HERE: