Jennifer Lewis is finally talking about the accident that almost ended her life–and it includes lions. During an interview on The Tamron Hall Show, Jennifer described how her fun vacation to Africa turned tragic.
It happened in November 2022; Jennifer was visiting Africa with some friends. They had checked into the hotel at the Serengeti, and it was nighttime.
Jennifer hadn’t turned the lights on in the room yet and was walking alongside her private pool near the balcony. Suddenly, she ended up stumbling off of it and fell 10 feet into a dry ravine. She landed directly on her right hip bone.
Jennifer remembered how much pain she was in. She couldn’t believe that someone could be alive and in that much pain.
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She also remembered thinking about the irony. It was only five months earlier that she had been standing proudly atop her Hollywood Star of Fame. Now, she was broken and in agony in a ravine in Africa.
As she lay there, unable to move, she also recalled hearing lions roaring nearby. Jennifer found the situation funny despite the pain and fear she was in. She thought it’d be ironic if lions ate her, a celebrity, and they had to ship her back home in pieces.
Thankfully, she was eventually found, and Doctors Without Borders came in to treat her. They sent her to Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi by airlifting her there.
Jennifer said she was in and out of consciousness during the trip. She mostly remembers telling herself that she’d make it. As long as she was breathing, she was going to recover and get back on track.
Jennifer Had to Relearn How to Walk
When she reached the hospital, the doctor inspected her body and discovered that she had seriously injured a part of her hip socket, which holds the femur in place. He told her that her body was broken, but he was going to fix it. She mostly remembers how warm his eyes were, and she felt safe being treated by him.
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Her doctor ended up replacing the broken part of her hip with a titanium piece. She was in the hospital for ten days and even ended up receiving three blood transfusions during that time.
When she was finally well enough to travel, the hospital transferred her to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The team evaluated her there and then sent her to the California Rehabilitation Institute for two weeks.
One of the scariest parts of her recovery was when she was told to walk. She was placed between two parallel bars and told to walk from one end to the next.
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Jennifer grabbed onto the bars, but she couldn’t remember how to walk. She couldn’t remember how to put one foot in front of the other. Eventually, she got herself to walk, but it was through sheer force of will.
The physical therapists she worked with at the Institute and at home were amazed by her recovery. When they told her to take three more steps, she’d try to take 10 or 20 instead.
Jennifer said that healing really comes from what’s inside you. She said that if you want to sit down and feel sorry for yourself, then you’re never going to heal. You need to get up and keep trying.
