Kaley Cuoco Opens Up About Accident That Almost Led to a Leg Amputation
It was almost the end of 'The Big Bang Theory.'
Kaley Cuoco and her former The Big Bang Theory colleagues recently recalled the harrowing tale of how the actress almost lost her leg after a horse-riding accident.
The group spoke up about the incident in Jessica Radloff's oral history book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series, which hit shelves today, Oct 11.
In September of 2010, the actress was rushed to the hospital after the horse she was riding got spooked, causing her to fall to the ground. Cuoco is an experienced rider, but when the horse tried to jump over it fell short, landing on her left leg.
"That was the darkest, most frightening time in all twelve years [of the show]," show creator Chuck Lorre said, per People. "Kaley could have lost her leg. It was a series of miracles that allowed us to get through that and for her to come out the other end of that healthy."
The first in that series of miracles was how Lorre just happened to run into Dr. Stephen Lombardo, an orthopedic and sports medicine specialist, as well as the Los Angeles Lakers' team physician, according to his LinkedIn. Lorre called the run-in "heaven sent," as after he asked the surgeon for help, Cuoco was in surgery in less than two hours with "the best surgeons available to stop an infection because her leg was wide open."
Cuoco had to sign a release before surgery acknowledging that the doctors wouldn't know their treatment plan until they were able to see the extent of the damage and granting permission to amputate the leg, if necessary. "That wasn't the case, obviously, but I had to sign something that said, 'OK, you can,' " she said. "Everything ended up fine, and I was up and working a week later, but the doctors acted like I was never going to walk again. It's still too much for me to go into, and it sounded way worse than it was. And of course it was spiraling and everyone was freaking out, which I get. It scared people."
Co-star Johnny Galecki recalled how "devastating" it was to hear that it was possible Cuoco's leg would be amputated due to the accident.
In the end, while doctors thought Cuoco would be off her feet for months, she was in a walking boot and back on her feet after a two-week hospital stay. Her character only missed out on two episodes of the show, but Lorre shared that if Cuoco had lost her leg, it could've been the end of the hit series.
"It was an absolutely miraculous intervention that I ran into Dr. Steve," Lorre said. "Every time I see him, I say, 'Thank you! You saved Kaley! On a lesser level, you saved The Big Bang Theory!'"
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