Judd gives an update after undergoing an 8-hour surgery to repair her shattered bones.
Ashley Judd is in recovery after a journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to South Africa and, finally, the United States after shattering her leg in the middle of the rainforest.
The actress, 52, has been chronicling her injuries and hospitalizations since injuring herself by tripping over a fallen tree during a nighttime trip to research bonobo apes. After a journey that included being carried in a hammock by men on foot, a motorcyclist and two lights, Judd started treatment in a hospital in South Africa — which she detailed in a new post on Monday.
“I want to give my deepest and most vulnerable thanks to Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, for making split second decisions upon my arrival,” she wrote. “I arrived to them from DRC in terrible shape and my leg had no pulse. 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.”
Thanking her doctor, surgeon and other staff at the hospital, Judd revealed her father flew to South Africa to be with her after her “Big Operation.”
“My beloved Dad, who had gotten the text no parent ever wants: ’emergency, can’t answer questions, please come now,’ had indeed, because he is vaccinated, been able to come to South Africa,” she shared. “He has been my rock, companion, resource, helped me listen to so many doctors, critical support system, and kind, loving presence as I have wept and wept. We then made the 22 hour – 4 flights – to America thanks to unbelievably efficient disaster travel insurance on an Air Ambulance.”
“In an American hospital, I had to continue to wait for the tissue damage and swelling to reduce,” she continued. “Eventually I was qualified to have the 8-hour surgery to repair the bones, decompress the hemorrhaging nerve and pick the shards of bones out of the nerve. I am now recovering from surgery.”
“I’m very thankful to all of the experts, including that expert pictured, my Pop, who is rubbing my foot to remind my foot while it still cannot move that it is connected to my body,” she concluded. “I am up and around already.”
She went on to again point out how fortunate and privileged she is to have both the means and insurance to help throughout her ordeal.
“Let us always remember those without insurance,” she wrote. “Let us remember those who do not have choices. Let us remember those who are lonely and afraid.”
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Originally published at https://toofab.com/2021/02/23/ashley-judd-shattered-leg-surgery/ on .