Los Angeles: Actor-activist Ashley Judd has revealed that she almost lost a leg in a catastrophic fall in a Congo rainforest and is currently recovering at a South African trauma unit. In an Instagram Live chat with New York Times, Judd, who is a frequent visitor to Congo, said she tripped over a fallen tree, shattering her leg and was currently in Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“I’m 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,” the actor said. The 52-year-old humanitarian said a faulty head lamp made it difficult for her to see during one of the excursions in the region and she tripped over a fallen tree, breaking her leg.
The “Divergent” star described the next 55 hours as “incredibly harrowing,” and said the torture “started with five hours of lying on the forest floor” with one of her colleagues until she was rescued. “With his leg under my badly misshapen leg, biting my stick. Howling like a wild animal,” she said showing the piece of wood.
Judd shared that she spent the night in a hut in the city of Jolu, before being flown to the capital of Kinshasa for a 24 hours stay. She was eventually taken to South Africa to be treated in an ICU. On her Instagram page, the actor said she decided to share her experience after the accident to spread the word about what it means to be Congolese in extreme poverty with no access to health care, any medication for pain, any type of service, or choices.
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