Ashley Judd has revealed that she is in ICU after suffering "catastrophic injuries" in an "incredibly harrowing" 55-hour ordeal in the Congo Jungle.

In an Instagram Live interview from her hospital bed with The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, the 52-year-old actress said she is "in an ICU trauma unit in beautiful South Africa, which has taken me in from the Congo – a country I deeply love which is not, unfortunately, equipped to deal with massive catastrophic injuries like I have had."

"And 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 added.

The actress then took the opportunity to stress her own privilege by saying that most Congolese people have a "lack of" access to "a simple pill to kill the pain when you've shattered a leg in four places and have nerve damage."

Credit: Instagram / nickkristof

The Divergent actress explained that the accident happened when a faulty headlamp inhibited her vision during an excursion and she tripped over a fallen tree and broke her leg.

The next 55 "incredibly harrowing" hours began with "five hours of lying on the forest floor" with a colleague until she could be taken to safety.

"With his leg under my badly misshapen leg, biting my stick," she said, as she held up the piece of wood. "Howling like a wild animal."

At the end of the fifth hour, someone was able to reset her bones, at which point the actress was "going into shock" and "passing out" because of the pain.

Credit: PA Images

She spent the next "an hour and a half in a hammock, being carried out of the rainforest by my Congolese brothers, who were doing it barefoot, up and over hills, through the river" as she returned to her camp.

The actress then had to travel by motorcycle for six hours to reach her next destination, with one person driving and another holding her up.

Judd spent the night "in a hut" in the city of Jolu prior to being flown to the capital of Kinshasa to stay for 24 hours before finally being taken to a South African ICU.

Earlier in the conversation, the actress said: "I'm in a lot of love. I'm in a lot of compassion and I'm in a lot of gratitude. I thank everyone for their thoughts and their prayers and their support."

Ashley Judd has revealed that she is in ICU after suffering "catastrophic injuries" in an "incredibly harrowing" 55-hour ordeal in the Congo Jungle.

In an Instagram Live interview from her hospital bed with The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, the 52-year-old actress said she is "in an ICU trauma unit in beautiful South Africa, which has taken me in from the Congo – a country I deeply love which is not, unfortunately, equipped to deal with massive catastrophic injuries like I have had."

"And 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 added.

The actress then took the opportunity to stress her own privilege by saying that most Congolese people have a "lack of" access to "a simple pill to kill the pain when you've shattered a leg in four places and have nerve damage."

Credit: Instagram / nickkristof

The Divergent actress explained that the accident happened when a faulty headlamp inhibited her vision during an excursion and she tripped over a fallen tree and broke her leg.

The next 55 "incredibly harrowing" hours began with "five hours of lying on the forest floor" with a colleague until she could be taken to safety.

"With his leg under my badly misshapen leg, biting my stick," she said, as she held up the piece of wood. "Howling like a wild animal."

At the end of the fifth hour, someone was able to reset her bones, at which point the actress was "going into shock" and "passing out" because of the pain.

Credit: PA Images

She spent the next "an hour and a half in a hammock, being carried out of the rainforest by my Congolese brothers, who were doing it barefoot, up and over hills, through the river" as she returned to her camp.

The actress then had to travel by motorcycle for six hours to reach her next destination, with one person driving and another holding her up.

Judd spent the night "in a hut" in the city of Jolu prior to being flown to the capital of Kinshasa to stay for 24 hours before finally being taken to a South African ICU.

Earlier in the conversation, the actress said: "I'm in a lot of love. I'm in a lot of compassion and I'm in a lot of gratitude. I thank everyone for their thoughts and their prayers and their support."