Naomi Judd says daughter Ashley Judd 'could've died' after ‘catastrophic’ accident: ‘It was very serious’

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Naomi Judd said her daughter, actress Ashley Judd, "could’ve died" following an accident last month that left the performer with a shattered leg.

"It was very serious — she could've died," the "Ruby" actress, 75, told talk show host Kelly Clarkson on Thursday. "She's surviving. She's very courageous. She can't get out of bed [yet]."

Ashley Judd, 52, sustained critical injuries to her leg when she tripped over a fallen tree during a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo in February where she was visiting endangered bonobo monkeys.

It took rescue crews some 55 hours to transport the "Double Jeopardy" actress across unforgiving terrain from the DRC to South Africa after Judd suffered internal bleeding as well as intense nerve damage.

ASHLEY JUDD SHARES PHOTOS OF 'GRUELING 55-HOUR' ACCIDENT RESCUE: 'I WAKE UP WEEPING IN GRATITUDE'

Judd has since been recovering back home where her mother has been tending to her care.

While joining the "Kelly Clarkson Show," Naomi -- a former nurse -- said her daughter was set to have her stitches removed on Friday but suggested to Andy Cohen last week that she might take them out herself when the timing was right.

ASHLEY JUDD SLAMS 'MISOGYNISTIC SAVAGES' WHO MADE FUN OF HER APPEARANCE IN AN ELIZABETH WARREN CAMPAIGN VIDEO

"She lives next door, so I'm gonna go up and take her stitches out when we're done. I used to be a nurse before I became a singer," said Naomi, who is also mom to country crooner Wynonna, 56.

Wynonna recently told Page Six that she's also been pitching in to care for her sister.

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"I was looking up how to wash hair for someone who’s lying down in bed because she texted me, ‘Can you wash my hair?’" Wynonna told the outlet. 

She continued: "Therein lies the job of a big sister right there. [Ashley] said, ‘I have a request. Can you wash my hair?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ so I’m looking up ways to wash someone’s hair lying down."

Judd also provided concerned fans with an update on her condition earlier this month and thanked the medical personnel who tended to her.

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"I do not understand why what has happened has happened. I do understand I have been loved and helped enormously. I understand nights are a savage agony," she began. "Now, I am in the bosom of a stream of friends and family, too numerous to mention, who have caught me in their prodigious arms from this precipitous fall."

"They do for me what I cannot do for myself — prepare meals, shampoo my hair, and they also offer the deep spiritual direction and consolation of trying to begin to craft an arc of meaning and purpose," she continued. "They also offer and meet my need for quiet. I am lost and they are my shepherd's staff."

Ashley Judd broke her leg in four places and suffered nerve damage in a fall in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (AP, File)

Added the actress: "Thank you, all here and everywhere, for the goodwill, and may we ever be mindful of the needs of others."

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Yahoo! Entertainment reported at the time that Judd travels to the Congo about twice a year where her "life partner" runs a research camp.