Brooke Shields worried she would never walk again after breaking her right femur in an accident at her New York City gym in late January.
The actress, 55, suffered a life-changing injury when she fell off a balance board and flew into the air, landing on her upper leg and breaking the largest bone in the body.
But after a series of surgeries, a staph infection, and subsequent health hurdles, Brooke recognized her ability to overcome, telling People: ‘If anything, I’m a fighter.’
‘Fighter’: Brooke Shields discussed her harrowing health journey after breaking her femur at the beginning of the year, telling People magazine how she triumphed over multiple surgeries, a serious staph infection and an uphill – but winnable – battle with physical rehabilitation. She’s seen in 2019 above
The accident was surreal for Shields who said ‘It felt like it was all in slow motion. And then I just started screaming.’
‘Sounds came out that I’ve never heard before.’
EMTs rushed to the scene, at which point the star said ‘survival kicked in.’
‘I kept saying,”I can feel my toes” because I was so afraid I was paralyzed.’
The injury required serious surgery, stabilizing the break with two metal rods – ‘one from the top of my hip down, and another across into the hip socket.’
Shields had complications when a broken portion of her femur popped out, forcing her to have a second surgery to anchor her bones together with five rods and a metal plate.
‘I never considered myself Zen,’ she told the magazine, ‘but I realized with a certain calm that the rest is up to me now.’
That wasn’t the end of Brooke’s battle though.
She spent two-and-a-half weeks in the hospital only to return home and develop a very serious staph infection.
The infection was so bad she had to return to the hospital for emergency surgery on the IV site where she had had three blood transfusions during earlier surgeries.
Though Brooke’s bout with staph was terrifying, she said she was grateful because doctors feared the infection could be far worse.
Serious: The injury required serious surgery, stabilizing the break with two metal rods, but complications meant she had to have a second more serious surgery inserting five rods and a metal plate
Missing family: Being in the hospital was an isolating time for Shields, who wasn’t able to see her husband Chris Henchy and daughters Rowan, 17, and Grier (above), 14 because of COVID-19 restrictions
‘At first they feared it might be MRSA [a type of bacteria resistant to antibiotics],’ she remembered.
‘Thank God it wasn’t. If it had been, my doctor said it would have been a race against time. That’s how you can become septic. It seemed unthinkable.’
Being in the hospital was an isolating time for Shields, who wasn’t able to see her husband Chris Henchy and daughters Rowan, 17, and Grier, 14 because of COVID-19 restrictions.
‘I’ll never forget how hard the doctors and nurses worked and hearing their stories about COVID,’ she says. ‘I have asthma but I kept thinking, “I feel blessed I can breathe.”‘
Returning home for a second time, Brooke said she was told: ‘Your road is just about to begin.’
At first she thought she could power through healing, asking to do twice-a-day workouts instead of the recommended once-a-day physical therapy.
Reflection: At first she thought she could power through healing, asking to do twice-a-day workouts instead of the recommended once-a-day physical therapy but she quickly realized she couldn’t just ‘power through’
It made her realize that ‘for the first time in my entire life, I thought, “I can’t power through this.”‘
‘I can’t even stand on my leg or go up a step. I need to relearn how to even walk. The feeling of helplessness is shocking.’
But she added: ‘If anything, I’m a fighter.’
As she continues to heal, Brooke is focusing on her inner strength while celebrating every small success.
‘I’m the only one that’s going to be able to get through this,’ she says.
‘My career has actually been like that as well. One door gets slammed in my face and I search for another. It’s not unlike how I felt when I wrote about postpartum depression in 2005.
‘This is my journey, and if it took me breaking the largest bone in my body, then recovery is something I want to share. We have to believe in ourselves and encourage one another. There’s no other way to get through life, period.’
Life-changing: ‘This is my journey, and if it took me breaking the largest bone in my body, then recovery is something I want to share. We have to believe in ourselves and encourage one another. There’s no other way to get through life, period’ she told People