Actor Ashley Judd on Tuesday posted photos of his “exhausting 55-hour odyssey” from the Congolese rainforest to South Africa to save his broken leg in a fall and thanked rescuers profusely for the reality. (See the images below.)
“Without my Congolese brothers and sisters, my internal bleeding would probably have killed me and lost my leg,” the “Double Jeopardy” star wrote on Instagram. “I wake up crying with gratitude, deeply moved by each person who brought something that gave life and spirit during my grueling 55-hour odyssey.”
Judd’s image gallery highlighted the heroes of a bonobo research expedition that became a serious emergency when he stumbled upon a tree in the dark. They comforted her as she lay helpless for hours on the forest floor. They restored her broken tibia twice to make the heavy journey, carrying her on foot through rough terrain in a hammock and then on a motorbike, supporting her back while keeping her battered limb steady.
Judd, whose films include “Divergent,” “Tooth Fairy” and “Someone Like You,” told Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times in the video at the top that she was eventually transported to the capital of Kinshasa, where she was flown to South Africa. She was operated on from a hospital there.
A few years ago, Judd became a prominent figure in the MeToo movement, accusing film mogul Harvey Weinstein of sabotaging her career after she rejected her unwanted advances.
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