Ashley Judd is out of an eight-hour surgery in an American hospital after shattering her leg in the Congo rainforest earlier this month.

On Instagram, the actress posted a series of snaps from South African and American hospitals. She thanked the medical staffs profusely in a lengthy post.
"I want to give my deepest and most vulnerable thanks to Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, for making split second decisions upon my arrival," she said. "I arrived to them from DRC in terrible shape and my leg had no pulse. I desperately needed a blood transfusion. Their sisters (nurses) are exemplary, technically top notch, and they cared for the trauma in my body as well as my soul with equal proficiency."
The doctor at the Johannesburg hospital, she said, "was super at stabilizing my leg with the external fixator until the massive soft tissue damage and swelling went down so that I could have the Big Operation. What he did was significant and I am forever in his debt."
On Feb. 12, the two-time Golden Globe nominee revealed on Instagram that she shattered her leg and nearly lost it after something fell on it in the rainforest. A few days later, she posted several Instagram images that showed her being carried out of the jungle via a hammock and driven out on a scooter. It would be 55 hours before the "Double Jeopardy" star got professional medical help.
In her new social media post, Ashley, 52, recalled sending her dad a text message after the incident. It read: "emergency, can't answer questions, please come now." Her father, who's been vaccinated against COVID-19, was able to go to South Africa.
"He has been my rock, companion, resource, helped me listen to so many doctors, critical support system, and kind, loving presence as I have wept and wept," she said. "We then made the 22 hour – 4 flights – to America thanks to unbelievably efficient disaster travel insurance on an Air Ambulance."

From her unspecified American hospital, Ashley said she had to wait for "the tissue damage and swelling to reduce" before being eligible for an eight-hour surgery. During surgery, doctors repaired bones, decompressed the hemorrhaging nerve and picked "the shards of bones out of the nerve."
"I am now recovering from surgery," she said.
In one of Ashley's videos, she begins slowly walking with the assistance of a walker.
"I am up and around already. Thank you for your care and kind words," she said. "Let us always remember those without insurance. Let us remember those who do not have choices. Let us remember those who are lonely and afraid."