Jenifer Lewis left unable to walk after 10ft-fall from balcony into lion ravine

13 March 2024 , 05:39

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Jenifer Lewis took a tumble into a ravine (Image: Eric Mccandless/ABC)

Jenifer Lewis made a horrifying 10 foot fall of a hotel balcony into a lion ravine.

She was visiting the Serengeti region of Africa, but while she was taking into the sights, everything went wrong. "A lightning bolt went through my mind's eye ... in [the] pitch black, I didn't know I was falling," Jenifer said on Good Morning America. Down in the ravine, Jenifer found that she had struck her shoulder and hip heavily.

The actress was in extreme pain and unable to move. She said : "Nothing would move. So, I laid there, I said, 'Move your body, baby. Come on, Jenny. Move your body.'"

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She was taken care of by a local tribe (Eric Mccandless/ABC)

It only got worse when she heard a lion roar and she thought her life was over, laughing at how that would have been a crazy headline. Luckily, Jenifer was saved by local Maasai warriors. She said: "I got a lotta jokes that a lotta animals came by while I was laying on the ground. The hyenas went by laughing. A baboon jumped out of the tree and said could he get a selfie. He'd seen me on Fresh Prince."

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After being rescued from immediate danger, Jenifer was still ways away from being well. She wasn't able to walk and was still reeling in pain. The Doctors Without Borders staff airlifted her to Nairobi, Kenya. Jenifer went through surgery there for a fractured acetabulum.

Jenifer was in the ICU for six days after her ten hours of surgery and three blood transfusions. She was grateful for the help of the doctors there, calling the people of Nairobi "beautiful, sweet people."

It wasn't necessarily easier when Jenifer got home, but she did power through it. She came off of her pain medication after three months and heavily focused on her physical therapy and rehabilitation. Jenifer said: "You can't put your sock on one day, but the next day you can. It was everything that I had taken care of my body before I left for Africa."

Now, she's sharing her journey with the world as a story of hope and inspiration. She added: "Whether it's falling out of a relationship, falling out with your parents, falling down physically, any fall, I wanna tell the world, 'Oh yes, you can get up.'"

Alex West