Ashley Judd Goes On Alps Trek After Recovering From Leg Injury

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00:00 Ashley Judd is feeling grateful. The 55-year-old took to Instagram on Saturday to share images

00:05 from a trek she took on the Swiss Alps, reflecting on how far she has come since recovering from

00:10 a major leg injury.

00:12 "Walking. Switzerland. After 5 breaks in right leg, a paralyzed foot, possible amputation,

00:18 all while hemorrhaging, my leg and I have come far in 2.5 years since my accident in

00:23 Democratic Republic of Congo. We came far up these Alps for the sheer joy of it, confidently.

00:29 Ongoing gratitude of profound proportions to the Congolese who saved me and the surgeons,

00:35 neurologists and physical therapists who set me up for this stunning recovery. How are

00:39 you celebrating your blessings?" the caption reads in part.

00:43 Ashley revealed in 2022 that she had suffered another leg fracture over that summer, just

00:48 a month after losing her mom Naomi Judd.

00:50 While on an open-mind lecture with UCLA professor Dr. Jonathan Flint, she spoke about the details

00:56 of the injury, which happened less than two years after she suffered a catastrophic injury

01:00 while hiking in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2021.

01:05 "Healthy boundaries are essential for good mental health. That I really have to, that

01:12 self-esteem comes from within, that my identity is something that has to be self-generated

01:18 and self-validated. And as my many taught me, 33% of the people are going to love me

01:26 no matter what I do. 33% of the people really don't care. And 33% of the people aren't going

01:33 to like me no matter what I do. And that globally, it's none of my business what other people

01:39 think of me. It's between the God of my understanding and me. And my core values are really set

01:47 with my most intimate friends, my closest advisors, like a spiritual director or a sponsor

01:54 mentor type of person who knows me and knows my heart and knows my soul. And that the rest

02:01 of it is just static. And so that's really what I've learned by being in the media. And

02:07 I can't take care of myself and another person's feelings at the same time."

02:10 I mean, can you give us a specific example of this? So in the work that you've done in

02:16 film, for example, there've been cases where you've found it just overwhelming with the

02:21 attention that you've been getting?

02:23 "Well, I can, I mean, I can give a really vulnerable example right now, for example,

02:28 because, you know, I've always enjoyed being very fit. I'm an athlete. I'm a half marathon

02:35 runner. I am a backpacker. I climbed a lot in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

02:40 and the Alps. And since I broke my leg in four places and paralyzed my foot, and then

02:46 I actually had another fracture over the summer, which I haven't told anybody about until now.

02:50 I had a condyle fracture in my femur, which was unrelated and just this freak accident,

02:55 you know, and then since my mom and everything, I've put on some weight and I'm sure people

02:59 are talking about it, but I don't pay any attention to it because I know it's a temporary

03:03 condition and the weight will come off when it is supposed to, because it's none of my

03:07 business what people think of me. You know, it's, it's a, it's an experience I'm having

03:12 as a 54 year old woman. And I put some pictures on Instagram at my sister's concert, and I'm

03:17 sure that there is a, there's a cohort of people who are being fie-ly ugly about it.

03:23 And it is absolutely none of my business. I have a healthy boundary about it. But I

03:28 also know that misogyny is a real thing in our culture. And you try being a, you know,

03:36 a once ultra fit woman who's 54 and put on some weight, that is going to spark some very

03:44 sexist conversation by both men and women and others in our culture.

03:51 Well given what you've told us and your ability to cope with, for most people would be sort

03:58 of crushing disasters. I'm pretty certain that you will, you'll manage to get over this

04:03 as well. But I'm, your story about another fracture and happening, it reminds me of the

04:09 work that was done some years ago, examining the records of an insurance company to look

04:14 at drivers who wrecked their cars. And a pattern emerged that there were some drivers who were

04:21 just reporting many, many more accidents than others. And this, the idea that accidents

04:27 were happening randomly turned out not to be true. Which of course you can imagine,

04:31 because we all know people who drive recklessly because of their personality, reflects their

04:36 genetic makeup. But in your case, the sorts of disasters that are falling you do indeed

04:40 seem to be completely out of the blue. And it's an extraordinary world of things. I'm

04:49 sorry for you. I wish I had a way of preventing these sorts of things, but I think you need

04:53 to have divine abilities to stop that. I'm so sorry, Aisling.

04:57 Thank you. It healed in two months lickety split. It was what it was. And clumsiness

05:06 is associated with grief. And there were other people in our family after mom died who fell

05:11 downstairs and had accidents. And that's just what mine happened to look like. And it really

05:18 allowed me to grieve. It really allowed me to stop what I was working on at the moment

05:22 and to grieve.

05:23 Ashley has been open about her past injury. Here's everything you need to know about the

05:28 horrific ordeal.

05:29 You know, when I got to South Africa, my leg didn't have a pulse and I was hemorrhaging.

05:34 And if I had been medevaced to Europe, I would have bled to death.

05:38 Ashley Judd is looking back at her catastrophic injury in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

05:43 revealing that she quote, would have bled to death if she had been transported to Europe.

05:49 The 53-year-old actress shattered her right leg in four places during a hike in the jungle

05:53 in February 2021. The humanitarian was there on a research trip. While talking to Kate

06:00 Roberts on her podcast, Sex, Body and Soul, she said she barely survived the 55-hour rescue

06:06 and detailed her immense pain.

06:08 I mean, I don't know how the mind and the body and the soul come together to manage

06:14 to endure the unendurable. I mean, I bit a stick. I screamed, I howled, I convulsed.

06:21 I never did pass out. I wished that I could.

06:24 Ashley said she was lying on the forest floor for five hours before someone was able to

06:28 find her, reset her bones and carry her in a hammock quote, over hills and through a

06:34 river. From there, she rode on a motorcycle for six hours until she got somewhere where

06:39 she could be flown to a hospital.

06:40 It's a hospital in South Africa, about nine days. And then I was medevaced to Tennessee.

06:46 You know, when I got to South Africa, my leg didn't have a pulse and I was hemorrhaging.

06:51 And if I had been medevaced to Europe, I would have bled to death.

06:54 During the candid interview, Ashley revealed how the accident changed her.

06:59 And I think it showed me that all the work I've done and the development of my meditation

07:05 practice and how hard I've tried to heal, that that really was with me throughout those

07:12 55 hours. And this doesn't make me good, right and perfect. And I'm not trying to toot my

07:17 own horn, but there was a certain grace that stayed with me.

07:23 She said meditating helped her shift her perspective on the situation.

07:27 I knew that I couldn't have expectations, for example, about when I might get help or

07:32 if there would be a painkiller or anything, you know, and I just had no expectations.

07:39 And I knew that I could only do it one breath at a time. And, you know, I was able to say

07:43 please and thank you and may I have a drink of water and I didn't make it anybody else's

07:47 fault and I didn't take it out on the people around me.

07:51 And I also could remember things like, you know, my higher power shows up and the people

07:57 around me and wear skin and that people were offering me everything that they had was just

08:03 their presence, you know, and it was their compassion and their empathy.

08:08 Since the tragic incident, Ashley has started to walk again. In January, she celebrated

08:13 the anniversary of the accident with a 25 mile hike in the Appalachian Mountains. She

08:18 also revealed she wants to return to the Congo.

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