Ashley Judd's Photos Of Her Harrowing Rescue In Congo Highlight The Heroes

Actor Ashley Judd posted photos Tuesday of her “grueling 55 hour odyssey” from the Congolese rainforest to South Africa to save the leg she shattered in a fall and profusely thanked the rescuers who made it happen. (See the images below.)

“Without my Congolese brothers and sisters, my internal bleeding would have likely killed me, and I would have lost my leg,” the “Double Jeopardy” star wrote on Instagram. “I wake up weeping in gratitude, deeply moved by each person who contributed something life giving and spirit salving during my grueling 55 hour odyssey.”

Judd’s picture gallery highlighted the heroes of a bonobo research expedition that turned into a grave emergency when she tripped over a tree in the dark. They comforted her as she lay helplessly for hours on the forest floor. They reset her shattered tibia twice to make the arduous journey, carrying her by foot over brutal terrain in a hammock and then by motorbike, propping her up backward while keeping her mangled limb steady.

Judd, whose films include “Divergent,” “Tooth Fairy” and “Someone Like You,” told The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof in the video at the top that she was eventually transported to the capital of Kinshasa, where she was put on a plane for South Africa. She underwent surgery at a hospital there.

A few years ago, Judd emerged as a prominent figure in the MeToo movement, accusing movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sabotaging her career after she rejected his unwanted advances.