Ashley Judd Hikes Alps 2 Years After Almost Losing Her Leg
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actress and JEOPARDY! star Ashley Judd shared her phenomenal recovery after a severe leg injury two and a half years ago.
Fox News reports the accident happened in February 2021 while Judd was hiking through the African rainforest. She tripped over a tree, severely shattering her leg. She was first taken to a South African hospital.
“I arrived to them from DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo] in terrible shape and my leg had no pulse,” Judd wrote. “I desperately needed a blood transfusion. Their sisters (nurses) are exemplary, technically top notch, and they cared for the trauma in my body as well as my soul with equal proficiency.”
She was then flown back to the United States, where she underwent an eight-hour surgery, followed by months of physical therapy.
Two and a half years later, Judd took to Instagram to celebrate her recovery.
“Walking. Switzerland. After 5 breaks in right leg, a paralyzed foot, possible amputation, all while hemorrhaging, my leg and I have come far in 2.5 years since my accident in Democratic Republic of Congo,” she said in the caption.
“We came far up these Alps, for the sheer joy of it, confidently. Ongoing gratitude of profound proportions to the Congolese who saved me, and the surgeons, neurologist and physical therapist who set me up for this stunning recovery. How are you celebrating your blessings?” she concluded.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only injury she has overcome recently. In April 2022, Judd broke her leg a second time from what she called “clumsiness associated with grief,” according to Yahoo News.
“It was what it was,” she shared. “Clumsiness is associated with grief, and there were other people in our family, after mom died, who fell stairs and had accidents, and that’s just what mine happened to look like. It really allowed me to grieve. It really allowed me to stop what I was working on at that moment and to grieve.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Judd’s half-sister Wynonna Judd’s response to her mother’s death:
Wynonna Judd described the pain and grief but also the joy she felt following her mother’s death while still on tour.
“I am walking a paradox,” she said. “I feel joy, I feel pain, I feel light, I feel dark,” Guideposts reported.
Through her process of healing Judd has leaned on her faith more than anything. “It’s the Holy Spirit thing for me,” she stated. “I feel the Lord, and I feel joy and I feel sorrow all at the same time.”
Judd and her mother, Naomi Judd, were supposed to hit the road again together to tour the country but now Wynonna prepares to go it alone. The tour will be a celebration of life for her mother while offering inspiration for fans.
“This is my opportunity to step into a situation that I don’t know that I am ready to do what I’m about to do, but I think it’s going to heal me,” Wynonna told PEOPLE. “I’m teaching what I want to learn, which is how to have peace and joy in a really negative [space]. I want people to know that they’re loved. I want people to know that there is hope.”
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