Ashley Judd is recounting her traumatic accident she suffered while visiting the Congo area of Africa.
Last week, the 52-year-old actress said during an Instagram Live session she sustained "massive catastrophic injuries" after she tripped over a fallen tree, according to Fox News. She had to be hospitalized, but it took over two days for her to reach safety.
Judd opened up about her ordeal in an Instagram post.
"Without my Congolese brothers and sisters, my internal bleeding would have likely killed me, and I would have lost my leg," she captioned a series of photos of the rescue.
Several images show her being carried by two men while lying in a hammock. Others show Judd lying on the floor, clutching the hands of two women.
"I wake up weeping in gratitude, deeply moved by each person who contributed something life giving and spirit salving during my grueling 55 hour odyssey," she continued.
Judd explained she had broken her leg in four places and sustained nerve damage. While she lay on the ground of the rain forest, one of her rescuers, Dieumerci, refused to leave her side and remained seated on the ground for several hours.
Her second rescuer, "Papa Jean" spent five hours trying to find Judd but did not give up until she was located. He then manipulated her leg into a position so she could be transported back to civilization. Six men carried her in a hammock for three hours over technical terrain. She was then transported by a motorbike to safety.
"Didier drove the motorbike. I sat facing backwards, his back my backrest. When I would begin to slump, to pass out, he would call to me to reset my position to lean on him. Maradona rode on the very back of the motorbike, I faced him. He held my broken leg under the heel, and I held the shattered top part together with my two hands," Judd wrote, adding it took six hours to ride on the "irregular, rutted and pocked dirt road."
A man named Maradona volunteered to make the rest of the journey with Judd.
"We have a nice friendship, discussing the pros and cons of polygamy and monogamy," Judd continued. She then thanked the women who held her while she suffered in pain.
"They blessed me," she concluded.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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