Ashley Judd attends 1st public event since nearly losing her leg
Ashley Judd is getting out and about again — six months after nearly losing her leg in a Congo rainforest fall.
The 53-year-old actor made her first public appearance, attending a Red Sox game last week with her dad, Michael Ciminella, and partner, Martin Surbeck — and she got around like a champ. She was without a cane for her tour of the iconic Green Monster in the bustling ballpark, relying on an ankle brace.
She said it was "so refreshing to take a summer evening’s pause from the troubles of the word" to take in the game. Her dad, who she said in her 2011 memoir was an outstanding baseball player in his day and briefly considered going pro, "hadn’t had so much fun since he was 14."
As for her partner, a Harvard Professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, she noted he's Swiss, making their visit to the most historic park in the country quite the introduction to the game.
Commenters celebrated her achievement, calling her a "warrior" and noting that she's "back."
The Double Jeopardy star deserves many cheers for her recovery from the horrendous accident. Judd shared the news in mid-February that she suffered a "catastrophic accident" — tripping over a fallen tree in the dark while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she has doing bonobo conservation work. (Surbeck heads the Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project camp in Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve and Judd visits several times a year.)
It took her an "incredibly harrowing 55 hours" — being carried from the rainforest, taken on a six-hour motorbike ride, sleeping on the floor of a hut and then finally flying by bush plane — to get from the rainforest to a Johannesburg, South Africa, hospital where they worked to save her leg, which had major tissue damage. She had multiple blood transfusions.
Judd, whose dad flew to her side, was eventually able to get back to the United States, via four more flights, and had an eight-hour surgery. After, she took small steps with a walker, but was unable to walk on her own — though she said she was determined and committed to her physical therapy.
Earlier this month, Judd shared an incredible video of herself hiking up a grassy hill in the Swiss National Park in Zernez — using just a brace. She also shared a video of herself, using crutches, as she made her way through a woodsy area.
She said at the time, "My leg will never be the same. She is a new leg. And I love her. We are buddies. We have a come a long way and we have a fabulous life ahead." Baseball games with loved ones included.
