Jenifer Lewis Had ‘The Hardest’ Time Recovering From Near-Death 10-Foot Fall In Africa
Jenifer Lewis is opening up about the near-death experience she had in Africa after falling 10 feet from a balcony.
The “Black-ish” star appeared on “ABC News Live” with Robin Roberts on Tuesday, March 12 where she revealed why 2023 was “the hardest” time in her life after surviving a near-death fall in November 2022.
“I didn’t know you could be in that much pain and be alive,” Lewis, 67, told Roberts in a clip shared by “Good Morning America.” “I went from that high kick standing on my star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, five months later, I was on the ground of the Serengeti and that same leg couldn’t move.”
When Roberts asked if Lewis thought she was going to die, she admitted “I did.”
.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: "In pitch black I didn't know I was falling."
— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 12, 2024
Jenifer Lewis opens up to @RobinRoberts about a near-fatal fall she took while on her dream vacation. See more tonight at 8:30pm ET on @ABCNewsLive and @Hulu. pic.twitter.com/oSMAjsoXog
Lewis was gearing up for retirement after wrapping “Black-ish,” getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Walk, and releasing her memoir “Walking In My Joy: In These Streets.”
“I was going to retire, move back home,” she said. “I had traveled around the world and life was wonderful.”
But during “a trip of a lifetime,” as described by Roberts, the original “Dreamgirls” cast member had her life flash before her eyes. Lewis had just checked into a hotel in the Serengeti during the evening and was let inside her lavish room without a tour.
“I laid out my safari clothes and I saw the infinity pool out on my deck. So I went out, I was just taking in that I was back in the Serengeti once again,” she recalled.
“And I’m walking and all of a sudden, I had fallen 10 feet into a dry ravine full of boulders and stones and sharp rocks. There was a space that was not sectioned off and there was no sign that said, ‘Caution, 10-foot. drop.'”
With it being pitch black out with no street lights, Lewis had no idea the harrowing danger she was near while lying on the ground in pain. A flashlight and a call for help from her friend Laurie were her last saving grace from the 10-foot buffalo and lion she was nearby.
“When Laurie ran to get help, I heard a lion roar,” Lewis shared. “My last thought, because I’m Jenifer Lewis, was ‘What a headline! The King Ate the Queen: Pieces of Jenifer Lewis’ Body Is Being Flown Back to the States.'”
Surviving the traumatic experience has left Lewis “humbled” and more appreciative of life. She also took her time revealing the near-death fall to make sure that when she shared the story she would show everyone “how I got back up.”
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