The actress celebrated her big moment on Instagram.
Ashley Judd is walking again. The actress took to Instagram on Sunday to share her major health milestone with fans, less than 6 months after her terrifying rainforest fall.
"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, and in what fashion! I hiked in the #SwissNationalPark," she shared alongside photos and videos from her big moment.
"Stepping in, I felt in my ease, my natural garment of self, 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. 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," she continued. "This is the road ahead. But I am up to the daily tasks, as I am even carrying firewood into our Alpine hut!"
Judd was hospitalized in February after she fell while researching the Bonobos, a unique species of ape, in the Congo region of Africa. The accident shattered Judd's leg, and after a 55-hour rescue, which involved six men carrying her to safety, she was transported to a hospital in South Africa. When Judd made it back to the U.S., she underwent an eight-hour surgery to repair her leg.
"I have so many people to thank for helping to make my recovery possible," she wrote on Sunday. "Many I have previously acknowledged, such as Dr Phil Kregor, the 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. The video of my foot moving is unheard of. 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. Now, after crying while trying to spell the ABCs with a paralyzed foot….well, you see!"
As Judd noted, her 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," she wrote.
"From an eight hour surgery (thank you Dr Nathan Belt, with your #UK scrubs for the safe anesthesia) to grueling and essential physical therapy with @kim.oneil5, to Osteopathy with while managing - yes, unbelievably - some @acroyoga (that picture was before I could walk) with @almuthkramer, I have been loved and understood and helped in my healing. 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!)," the actress shared. "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."
In a March interview with ET, Judd's mother, Naomi, said she was "scared to death" over her daughter's accident.
"Ashley is a total survivor, she's gonna be great... but it's a long healing process," she admitted.
See more in the video below.
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