During a trip to the Serengeti in Tanzania, Black-ish star Jenifer Lewis experienced a devastating accident that she thought she might die. Lewis recently opened up exclusively to Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts to recall the moment. She was injured after falling 10 feet off her hotel balcony and into a dry ravine.
The Sister Act star said that she went on the trip to celebrate the conclusion of the hit eight-season sitcom, which ran from 2014 to 2022. She said that after exploring nature in the Serengeti for a day, she fell off her hotel balcony and as a result, she couldn’t move.
The actress, 67, is known for her prominent roles in hit sitcoms like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and A Different World.
Jenifer Lewis Had a Devastating Fall and She Met a Near-Death Experience
In a preview of a sit-down interview with Robin Roberts that aired on Good Morning America, Jenifer Lewis revealed that she had her near-death experience after falling off a 10-foot balcony while on holiday to Tanzania, almost two years ago.
Following the conclusion of Black-ish in April 2022, Lewis said she was ready to retire from her career and enjoy life.
“I was gonna retire and move back home,” she said. “I conquered a dream.”
And, as part of that, she visited on a trip to Africa with a friend. Recalling her experience, Lewis said that after a day of exploring nature in the Serengeti, she fell off of her hotel balcony.
“A lightning bolt went through my mind’s eye … in [the] pitch black, I didn’t know I was falling,” she said.
Lewis talked about her pain following the accident. “It was hard to even take a big breath to scream.”
“Nothing would move. So, I laid there, I said, ‘Move your body, baby. Come on, Jenny. Move your body,’” she recounted.
Lewis was able to wake up her friend with her screams, though it hurt to breathe. “It was hard to even take a big breath to scream,” she said.
The actress heard a lion roar. “My last thought, because I am Jenifer Lewis, was, ‘What a headline,‘” she said, jokingly. “The king ate the queen: Pieces of Jenifer Lewis’ body being flown back to the states.’”
Lewis visited Serengeti after having visited Cape Town and Rwanda. After recovery, she made a brief appearance in Jennifer Lopez’s latest musical film, This Is Me… Now: A Love Story.
Jenifer Lewis Faces Each Day With Bravery and Dedication
It was definitely not easy to recover from such an incident. But she did while keeping quiet about that phase. While revealing her way to recovery, she told why she stopped taking painkillers.
“If there’s pain let me feel it so I can fix it,” she recalled.
On why she is now sharing all these, Lewis said:
“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.‘”
Talking about the slow process of rehabilitation, she said that it was her only who inspired herself.
“You can’t put your sock on one day, but the next day you can,” she said. “It was everything that I had taken care of my body before I left for Africa.“
Roberts shared that it was Niecy Nash who gave her the tip about Lewis. Isn’t it inspiring for us as well that when life throws challenges at us, it is for us to get back and stay motivated? Lewis, despite all the difficulties, navigated her road to recovery, through perseverance, bravery, and hope.
