'Emily in Paris' star Ashley Park says recovery from septic shock was a 'miracle'
Actress Ashley Park recalled her journey of survival and healing after she went into a septic shock in January.
The 33-year-old Emily in Paris star looked back on the vacation she spent with her boyfriend Paul Forman earlier in the year in Maldives where she initially endured pains from tonsillitis.
"I got really sick with tonsillitis. Then everything really started going wrong. I was in different ICUs and then air ambulances for a month. I couldn’t leave because I wasn’t allowed to fly. When I finally could, it was a shorter distance to Paris than to L.A., so I had to go straight to Paris to recover, not home," she shared in an interview with Cosmopolitan.
Ashley also recalled waking up in the hospital where she was told she had septic shock.
According to Healthline, sepsis occurs when the body has an extreme reaction to an infection. This causes drastic changes and can be very dangerous and potentially life-threatening. On the other hand, septic shock causes a significant drop in blood pressure that can lead to respiratory or heart failure, stroke, dysfunction of other organs, and possibly, death.
Prior to the health scare, Ashley shared that she used to push herself too far.
“I was not listening to my body. Now I’m thinking about my future and asking, ‘Am I putting myself in a position where I’m going to be able to do my best?’ That starts with my health. I’m getting back to my old self. I look and feel better, and I’m trying to stay as stable as I can and keep my energy that people expect," she said.
As the actress also previously shared that she was diagnosed with cancer at 15, comedy and joking about her health battle has been one of her coping mechanisms.
“As an adult, I understand what coping mechanisms are. Stuff I didn’t know when I was a teenager,” she said. “And even though both of the extreme illnesses I’ve had have been such flukes in a way—no one who’s 15 should have cancer, and no one who’s my age should have septic shock—I feel lucky, actually. It’s been kind of a miracle how I’ve recovered.”
Ashley later returned to filming Emily in Paris season 4 with co-star Lily Collins after recovering from the septic shock.