What happened to Ashley Judd? Actress' Congo accident explored as she opens up on near-fatal leg injury

American actress Ashley Judd opened up about how she had a traumatic experience while trekking through the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

While appearing on an episode of the S*x, Body and Soul podcast with Kate Roberts, the 53-year-old actress revealed that she had severely injured herself and was in tremendous pain during the journey to a medical facility.

The incident led to her taking almost six months to recover and walk again after the horrific accident.

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Ashley Judd almost lost a leg while hiking through the jungles of Congo

In February 2021, Judy broke her right leg in four places while making her way through a heavily forested area of the country and had to be evacuated to South Africa for further treatment.

According to the performer, she could easily have succumbed to her injuries during her journey to a medical facility, and she could not understand how she was able to endure such intense pain.

"I don't know how the mind and the body and the soul come together to manage to endure the unendurable."

Judd noted that she wasn't afraid to show her emotions on the journey, although she would have preferred to lose consciousness to avoid the pain. She said she screamed, howled and even bit a stick, but wished she could have passed out.

The Double Jeopardy actress expressed gratitude to the "Congolese brothers" who transported her "up and over hills, through the river" after the accident.

On her way to medical care, Ashley Judd noted that her situation had grown rapidly and was at risk of becoming fatal.

"I was in hospital in South Africa about nine days. And then I was medevaced to Tennessee. But when I got to South Africa, my leg didn't have a pulse and I was hemorrhaging."

The actress also remarked that if she had been medevaced to Europe, she would have bled to death.

As she continued, the performer commented that she had to overcome a mental block to stay calm.

Judd specifically noted that as "animalistic" as she was, her mind was pretty skilled on the trek. The Olympus Has Fallen star said that she did not attempt to lie to herself and had no expectations. However, she did it only "one breath a time."

Ashley Judd then said that she had benefited greatly from meditating while seeking medical care.

"It showed me that all the work I've done in the development of my meditation process and how hard I've tried to heal, that that really was with me throughout those 55 hours."

Judd stated that she looked inward and found inner strength while being treated by medical professionals. She said that she would try to soften when she was on the brink of losing it, but eventually found more space inside of her.

She later recovered from her injuries and announced on her Instagram account that she would be returning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ashley Judd expressed that all of the pain and trauma she experienced during the trip "is in the past now."