Ashley Judd Shares Powerful Walking Video 5 Months After Shattering Her Leg in Africa
Ashley Judd is walking again five months after falling and shattering her leg in the Congolese rain forest.
She shared a video of her triumphant milestone—hiking up hill at Swiss National Park.
“Stepping in, I felt in my ease, my natural garment of self, at home in my spirit. My leg and foot, worked beautifully,” she wrote on Instagram.
Ashley Judd is a talented actress, curious researcher, and inspiring activist, but unwitting determination may be her greatest strength. Five months ago, while studying Bonobos in the Congolese rain forest, the 53-year-old fell and shattered her leg in four places and anticipated not being able to walk for at least a year. But thanks to her dedication to recovery, she’s already on the move.
Judd shared a video of her first trek back on Instagram—uphill at Swiss National Park, no less. “Dear Friends, It is with reverence and quiet awe I offer this update. Today, five months and three weeks after the accident in the Congolese rainforest, I walked again,” she captioned an August 1 post.
“Stepping in, I felt in my ease, my natural garment of self, at home in my spirit. My leg and foot, worked beautifully,” she continued. “I walked up hill on uneven surfaces for an hour confidently and came down carefully and easily. I rested in a meadow on God’s fecund earth for hours. The next day, I walked again on a high Alp in #Ticino, working hard and feeling how much I stamina I have to rebuild. This is the road ahead.”
The clip shows Judd confidently strutting through the grass with the support of only a shin brace, a picturesque mountain towering behind her. She added that she’s not only walking, but also returning to daily physical chores like collecting and carrying firewood.
The second half of her post recounts her immense progress, sharing additional recovery milestones like when she began to regain mobility in her foot. “We expected my foot - if ever - to *begin* to move in one year. In four months to the day, she blew us all away,” Judd wrote. “Now, after crying while trying to spell the ABCs with a paralyzed foot….well, you see!”
After the traumatic accident in which she “struck something in the dark and fell,” per People, Judd underwent a 55-hour rescue that took her out of the jungle and into an eight-hour reconstructive surgery.
In her update, the Double Jeopardy star thanked her surgeons for their meticulous work and their “very gutsy decision to decompress my deeply damaged peroneal nerve.” She also thanked her physical therapists and yoga instructors for being so patient and caring.
“I have been loved and understood and helped in my healing,” she wrote. “Just look at the last video for comparison, that was where I was just two months ago (always trying to be in nature) when I could barely walk!” In the clip, she used crutches to hobble through some brush.
Judd was determined to walk again, and now she has. But she’s also made peace with the fact that her body will always show evidence of her accident. “My leg will never be the same. She is a new leg. And I love her. We are buddies,” she proclaimed. “We have a come a long way and we have a fabulous life ahead.”
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