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What was humanitarian and 'Divergent' actress Ashley Judd doing in Congo? Plus, get the details on the harrowing 55 hours that followed her horrific accident and find out what Ashley wants people turn their attention to.

Ashley Judd, the Hollywood actress who starred in movies like 'Divergent', 'Kiss the Girls', 'Double Jeopardy,' 'Heat' and 'Someone Like You', to name a few, is currently recovering in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a South African hospital after breaking her right leg while in Congo.

Ashley Judd broke her right leg while in Congo / Source: @ashley_judd (IG)

Ashley, who's also known for her humanitarian works, was in Congo to track the Bonobos, an endangered great ape species that is considered the closest surviving relative of humans.

In an interview with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, Ashley said her life partner has a research camp in Congo where he began habituating Bonobos to human presence almost two decades ago.

So, they have been visiting Congo twice every year, for a month or six weeks at a time.

While out in the jungle tracking the Bonobos, Ashley accidentally tripped over a fallen tree.

She narrated, “There was a fallen tree on the path, which I didn't see, and I had a very powerful stride going, and I just fell over this tree. And as I was breaking my leg, I knew it was being broken. I cried out to Maud, one of the researchers walking with me, 'Maud, I had broken my leg.'”

Ashely also said, “…what was next was a harrowing 55 hours. Started with 5 hours of lying on the forest floor with Dieumerci, one of our trackers, with his leg under my badly misshapen leg, biting my stick, howling like a wild animal, while Malaika, one of our trackers, went and wake Martin up and then Martin came running to me. So, that's two hours right there.”

Ashley said it took another five hours for a certain Papa Jean to arrive and reset her bones. Then they spent 1.5 hours of carrying her out of the rainforest in a hammock. And that was just their journey back to camp.

Ashley Judd being transported out of the rainforest in hammock carried by Congolese men / Source: Source: @ashley_judd (IG)

After the grueling trip back to camp, Ashley then had to ride a motorbike.

Ashley recounted, “They had to physically hold me up. It was one man driving and then one man sitting behind me.

“And so, Maradona got on the bike. He had to hold my leg and I had to physically hold the top part of my shattered tibia together and we did that for six hours."

Ashley and the two Congolese men who were with her during the 6-hour motorbike ride / Source: Source: @ashley_judd (IG)

Although Ashley said she was “at the edge of her very edge,” enduring the excruciating pain during their long journey, she acknowledges the fact that she's still privileged, because they can pay for someone to drive them out from their remote location.

“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.”

After the six-hour motorbike ride, they spent the night in a hut before the bush plane arrived to get them.

Ashley shows the external fixator attached to her broken right leg / Source: @nickkristof (IG)

Aside from detailing the 55 hours that followed her horrible injury, Ashley also used the opportunity to put the spotlight on the poor state of Congo's healthcare system and how people can help change this.

“They couldn't offer me ibuprofen but they offered me a depth of understanding because they know what this suffering is like.”

She added, “That's what the Congolese people can do for each other because in the areas--you know, there are 517 health zones in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), less than half of them are operational.

“91% of existing health centers do not offer emergency obstetric care or any kind of newborn care.

“All of the women in the five villages around where the Bonobos range deliver at home without a skilled birth attendant present.”

This is why Ashley encouraged people to donate to one of the charities and foundations that she supports, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The said donations will be earmarked to provide safe birth kits to Congolese mothers.

Ashley Judd with the Congolese women who comforted her during her ordeal / Source: @ashley_judd (IG)

The safe birth kits include a sterile pad for the mother to deliver on, a bar of soap, a razor blade for cutting the umbilical cord of the baby, a pair of sterile gloves, and a swaddling cloth for the newborn.

Part of the donations could also go toward a mobile clinic, where sexual and reproductive health services can be accessed.

Ashley also talked about how Congo is unfortunately considered by many as the rape capital of the world, where atrocious sexual and gender-based violence are prevalent.

Moreover, Ashley said that 92% of Congolese women in the reproductive age cannot regulate their own fertility due to lack of education, access to contraception, and also because forced marriages and polygamy are prevalent there.

Hence, Ashley feels it's of great importance that people help improve the lives of Congolese people by helping in their own little way to improve the healthcare system.

If you want to donate, you can do so through UNFPA's website.

Ashley also talked about how people's consumer practices actually help create and sustain the humanitarian crisis in Congo, where minerals such as coltan, tungsten and tantalum used to create smartphones and other gadgets are sourced.

If you want to watch the full interview of Ashley Judd, you can do so in Nicholas Kristoff's Instagram account.

You might also want to read about Congolese designer Anifa Mvuemba's digital runway show, which is inspired by challenges faced by her countrymen in coltan mining sites.

And for more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.

Check out also the gallery of Filipino celebrities who figured in accidents below.