After nearly losing her leg in a “catastrophic” accident while on a research camp in the Congo rainforest, Ashley Judd is recovering in a hospital in South Africa.
Judd talked about the accident and his work in the Democratic Republic of Congo during an Instagram Live with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. Walking with “strong strides” early in the morning, before sunrise, Judd did not see a fallen tree and stumbled, breaking her leg. She described the “incredibly distressing” physical and emotional nature of her journey to the hospital, which included lying on the forest floor for five hours and holding the top of her broken tibia for six hours while riding a motorcycle.
“The difference between a Congolese person and me is the disaster insurance that allowed me, 55 hours after my accident, to reach an operating table in South Africa,” said Judd in his hospital bed. She also noted that 91% of existing health centers in the DRC do not offer emergency obstetrics or any type of neonatal care.
The activist and actress regularly visits the DRC and explained in her own Instagram post that, although she is used to the area, “accidents do happen”. The conversation opened the opportunity for her to discuss a more urgent matter and make an appeal for donations to the United Nations Population Fund.
“Bonobos exist only in the most remote parts of the Congo,” wrote Judd, regarding the danger of the monkey species. “Bonobos are important. And the same is true of the people whose ancestral forests live and the other 25,600,000 Congolese who need humanitarian aid. “
See the full Instagram Live below.