Ashley Park reveals she spent a week in the ICU with 'critical septic shock'
Ashley Park is in the "throes of recovery" after a health emergency.
The "Joy Ride" star shared several photos of herself in a hospital bed on Instagram Friday, revealing she became seriously ill over the holidays.
"While on holiday in December into New Years, what started as tonsillitis spiraled into critical septic shock, which infected and affected several of my organs," she said. "I am grateful that my health has improved despite what we had initially been told."
Park said she went to "three foreign hospitals," spent a week in the intensive care unit and underwent "countless scans and tests and injections, excruciating pain, and so much confusion all while we were alone on the other side of the world far from those we know." She thanked Paul Forman, her co-star in Netflix's "Emily in Paris," for being "unconditionally by my side" throughout the ordeal. "I love you Paul," she wrote. "More than I can ever say."
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Park also thanked the team at Joali Being, a resort in the Maldives, for providing "language translations and vital support." Her previous Instagram post, shared on Dec. 30, referenced attending a cooking class in Thailand.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, septic shock is a life-threatening condition that can occur when an infection causes low blood pressure and organ failure. The most severe stage of sepsis, it can lead to brain damage, lung failure, heart failure, kidney failure, gangrene and death, the clinic says.
Park said in her post that she hesitated to share details of her health because she is still in "the throes of recovery," but she is now "safely on the other side of the worst." She added, "Thanks for reading this. I love you all. I'm healing and I promise I'm gonna be okay."
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Prior to her health scare, Park had a busy 2023 starring in the road trip comedy "Joy Ride" and appearing on "Only Murders in the Building" and "Beef." She recently appeared as a French teacher in 2024's "Mean Girls," a possible nod to her role as Mindy Chen in "Emily in Paris," after earning a Tony nomination for playing Gretchen Wieners in the Broadway musical.
Park has previously discussed the fact that she battled acute myeloid leukemia when she was 15. She told Playbill in 2016 that going into theater was the "best escape from being just the girl who had cancer," adding, "Three months after I left the hospital room in a wheelchair, I was Millie in some high school production of 'Thoroughly Modern Millie,' (and) that was the best therapy I could ask for."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ashley Park health: 'Joy Ride,' 'Mean Girls' star reveals septic shock
