Kaley Cuoco has reflected on the terrifying moment that she almost lost her leg after a horse-riding accident.
The Big Bang Theory actress, who played Penny in the hit sitcom, revealed the future of the comedy could have been in jeopardy over the incident.
In the pages of a new book, the Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series, the cast and crew recalled the agonizing ordeal.
In September, 2010, the 36-year-old was riding at a ranch in LA when she fell off her horse after the animal became spooked.
The horse then landed on her leg, leading Kaley to seek urgent medical attention at a hospital.
Show creator Chuck Lorre revealed he ran into Dr Stephen Lombardo and asked for help, with his pal coming through and calling in some of the best surgeons available.
‘That was the darkest, most frightening time in all twelve years [of the show],’ he said in the excerpt, via People Magazine. ‘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.’
At one point, there were fears that the Flight Attendant star’s leg could be amputated, with doctors also suggesting that she wouldn’t be able to walk for months, concerns that caused everyone around her to ‘freak out’.
‘Before I went into surgery, they made me sign something that said, “We don’t know until we get in there and see this leg, and it could come out that you don’t have it anymore”,’ she continued. ‘That wasn’t the case, obviously, but I had to sign something that said, “Okay, you can.”
‘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.’
‘But I think it scared people in a good way, myself included,’ Johnny Galecki, who starred as Leonard Hofstadter, added. ‘The first day I saw you in that state, I just shed tears in my garage.’
She was written out of two episodes of the comedy before coming back to work, with Chuck thanking his doctor pal for ‘saving’ Kaley, as well as the Big Bang Theory.
The hugely popular program first hit our screens in 2007, introducing us to Penny, Leonard, Sheldon Cooper, Raj Koothrappali and Howard Wolowitz.
After 12 seasons and countless awards, it was announced that the series was coming to an end, with the finale airing on May, 2019.
Thankfully, we’ve had spin-off comedy Young Sheldon to keep us occupied ever since.
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