Ashley Judd is walking again nearly six months after breaking her leg

Ashley Judd reveals she is WALKING AGAIN almost six months after breaking her leg in four places in Congolese rainforest: ‘We have come a long way’

Ashley Judd is walking again nearly six months after shattering her leg in four places while traveling in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The 53-year-old actress’ latest update on her agonizing road to recovery revealed she was able to hike in the Swiss National Park for over an hour.

‘Dear Friends, It is with reverence and quiet awe I offer this update,’ she wrote in a lengthy Instagram post. ‘Today, five months and three weeks after the accident in the Congolese rainforest, I walked again, and in what fashion!’

Recovering: Ashley Judd is walking again nearly six months after shattering her leg in four places while traveling in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Speaking of being back in nature, Judd detailed feeling at ease and ‘at home in my spirit.’

‘My leg and foot, worked beautifully. I walked up hill on uneven surfaces for an hour confidently and came down carefully and easily,’ she raved.

She added: ‘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.’

‘My leg and foot, worked beautifully. I walked up hill on uneven surfaces for an hour confidently and came down carefully and easily,’ she raved

Incredible progress: Despite the fact that her ‘leg will never be the same,’ Judd told her more than 518,000 followers she looks forward to a ‘fabulous’ life ahead with her ‘new leg’

While acknowledging she still has a long ‘road ahead,’ the Kiss the Girls star said she is finding joy in doing ‘daily tasks’ as well as carrying firewood into her Alpine hut.

Judd also made sure to thank the people who aided her recovery, including Dr. Phil Kregor, her trauma orthopedic surgeon.

‘He, in consultation with of Dr Susan Mackinnon & Dr Scott Levin, made a very gutsy decision to decompress my deeply damaged peroneal nerve,’ she noted. ‘The video of my foot moving is unheard of.’

Making strides: The 53-year-old actress’ latest update on her agonizing road to recovery revealed she was able to hike in the Swiss National Park (seen months early when she said she ‘barely walk’)

‘We expected my foot – if ever – to *begin* to move in one year. In four months to the day, she went blew us all away,’ the political activist pointed out.

Despite the fact that her ‘leg will never be the same,’ Judd told her more than 518,000 followers she looks forward to a ‘fabulous’ life ahead with her ‘new leg.’

She also shared footage of herself trekking through a forest with arm crutches just months prior, which she no longer needs, which she said was taken when she could ‘barely walk.’

‘Many of you have been praying for me, and sending me notes. Thank you. I have felt you. I have especially been held by family and my partner. Peace be with you,’ she concluded.

Very hard work: Pictured doing AcroYoga, before she could walk

A miracle: She surpassed her doctor’s expectations within months

The actress shattered her leg after tripping over a tree in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while going to see the endangered bonobos monkeys, and got treatment at Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, after a grueling 55-hour journey.

The actress revealed on February 12 that she had been rushed to the ICU in a hospital in South Africa after she suffered a fall which left her with a ‘shattered leg in four places’ as well as ‘nerve damage’ whilst in the Congo.

Ashley shared images of her lengthy 55-hour ordeal, which saw her travel across the continent in stages before reaching her final destination in South Africa.

In a lengthy caption on Instagram, she wrote: ‘Friends. Without my Congolese brothers and sisters, my internal bleeding would have likely killed me, and I would have lost my leg.

Recovery: Judd pictured on her recovery after her accident in the Congo jungle; seen in February

Once in an American hospital, Ashley said, ‘I had to continue to wait for the tissue damage and swelling to reduce. 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 wake up weeping in gratitude, deeply moved by each person who contributed something life giving and spirit salving during my grueling 55 hour odyssey. (sic)’

Ashley went on to thank each of the people involved in getting her the help she needed, including a man she named ‘Papa Jean’, who ‘manipulated and adjusted [her] broken bones’ so that she could be transported safely.

She said: ‘Papa Jean: it took 5 hours, but eventually he found me, wretched and wild on the ground, and calmly assessed my broken leg. He told me what he had to do. I bit a stick. I held onto Maud.

‘And Papa Jean, with certainty began to manipulate and adjust my broken bones back into something like a position I could be transported in, while I screamed and writhed. How he did that so methodically while I was like an animal is beyond me. He saved me. & he had to do this twice!

‘The six men who carefully moved me into the hammock with as little jostling as possible, who then walked for 3 hours over rough terrain carrying me out. Heros. (sic)’

The Double Jeopardy star sustained her injuries when she was out on an excursion and had been using a faulty head lamp, which made it difficult for her to see, and as a result she tripped over a fallen tree. When she first detailed her 55-hour ordeal, Ashley described it as ‘incredibly harrowing’, and said it began ‘with five hours of lying on the forest floor’ with one of her colleagues until she was able to be evacuated.

Harrowing: Ashley endured a 55-hour rescue ordeal to get her out of the jungle in DRC and to South Africa for treatment

Ordeal: Five hours after her accident someone arrived to reset her bones, before she was carried through the rainforest to a motorcycle, where she was driven for six hours to the city of Jolu

She added: ‘[He had] his leg under my badly misshapen leg, [and I was] biting my stick. Howling like a wild animal.’

Five hours after her accident someone arrived to reset her bones, before she was carried through the rainforest to a motorcycle, where she was driven for six hours to the city of Jolu.

After spending the night in the city, she was then flown to the capital of Kinshasa to stay for 24 hours and then, eventually, down to South Africa to be treated in an ICU in that country.

Speaking to The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof for an Instagram Live interview, she said: ‘I’m in a lot of love. I’m in a lot of compassion and I’m in a lot of gratitude. I thank everyone for their thoughts and their prayers and their support.’

Source: Read Full Article