Roughly six months after shattering her leg during a hike through a Congolese rainforest, actress Ashley Judd announced on Instagram that her mobility was improving.
On Aug. 1, 2021, she posted a series of photographs and videos documenting her recovery process — including footage of her walking up a hill in a national forest without any assistance. The caption to the post read:
"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. 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."
The following day, she said she walked again on a high Alpine peak in Ticino, the southernmost canton of Switzerland.
"I am up to the daily tasks, as I am even carrying firewood into our Alpine hut!" Judd wrote.
The post also thanked a crew of health care providers who had helped her recover from the injury that occurred during a night-time search for bonobos in the Democratic Republic of Congo in February.
“My 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,” Judd wrote.
In an earlier Instagram post recalling the accident, she said she had tripped over a fallen tree, breaking her tibia in four places and suffering nerve damage. As she lay screaming on the forest ground — biting a stick to distract herself from the pain of her "misshapen" leg — she said someone helped her "adjust" the broken bones so a crew could safely transport her by hammock (see the feature image of this report) to a camp for medical help.
[See also from Snopes: "Did Ashley Judd Say She Wanted to Live in the Middle East 'Where Women Have More Rights"?]