Naomi Judd Shares Update on Daughter Ashley Judd After Actress’ Injury in Congo Forest

In February, Ashley Judd suffered a leg injuring when she fell in a forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, shattering her leg after she tripped over a fallen tree. On Thursday night, Judd’s mother, Naomi Judd, shared an update on her daughter’s health during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, telling host Andy Cohen that it is “really hard” for her to see Ashley “like this.”

“She’s very courageous and she’s healing. It’s really hard to see her like this,” Naomi said. “She lives next door, so I’m gonna go up and take her stitches out when we’re done. I used to be a nurse before I became a singer.” She added that Ashley also has support from her other daughter Wynonna Judd, who “lives over the hill.” “Wynonna’s right there,” Naomi shared.

Earlier this week, Ashley shared a health update on Instagram, posting a trio of photos that ended with a shot of Wynonna washing her sister’s hair. Wynonna recently told Page Six that she was looking up how to wash someone’s hair after Ashley asked her for help. “Therein lies the job of a big sister right there,” Wynonna said. “She said, ‘I have a request. Can you wash my hair?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ so I’m looking up ways to wash someone’s hair lying down.”

The singer added that she saw her sister for the first time since her accident “the other day” and was “still processing.” Wynonna recalled crying when she saw Ashley and called her recovery “a miracle.” Ashley initially recounted her harrowing experience during an Instagram Live chat with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, revealing that she broke her leg in four places and suffered nerve damage. She was transported to a hospital in South Africa and eventually to the United States, where she underwent an eight-hour surgery to repair her leg. Ashley was in the Congo to track endangered Bonobos monkeys.

Ashley told Kristof that the Congo “is not, unfortunately, equipped to deal with massive catastrophic injuries like I have had.” “The difference between a Congolese person and me is disaster insurance that allowed me 55 hours after my accident to get to an operating table in South Africa,” she said, adding that she was fully aware of her “privilege.”

In her most recent Instagram update, the actress began, “I do not understand why what has happened has happened. I do understand I have been loved and helped enormously. I understand nights are a savage agony.” She thanked her doctors and nurses and the janitor who cleaned her room at the hospital, as well as the friends and family who have been helping her in the weeks since. The 52-year-old concluded, “Thank you, all here and everywhere, for the goodwill, and may we ever be mindful of the needs of others.”