Ashley Park feels lucky to have bounced back from a health scare earlier this year.
In his cover story for the Fall 2024 issue Cosmopolitanthe Emily in Paris star recalled the moment she was hospitalized and in the intensive care unit due to critical septic shock. The medical emergency happened in January while the 33-year-old was on holiday with her boyfriend and colleague Paul Forman.
“The first time I went to A&E I was in the Maldives with Paul. I don’t think I could have made it without him. Everyone else was on the other side of the world from us,” she told the newspaper. “When I got there, I got really sick with tonsillitis. That’s when everything really went wrong. I was in different intensive care units for a month and then in an ambulance. I couldn’t leave because I wasn’t allowed to fly. When I finally could, it was less to Paris than to LA, so I had to go straight to Paris to recover, not home.”
“When I woke up in the hospital and they said, ‘You have septic shock,'” she recalled the response, “I thought, ‘Oh my God, I a.m shocked I have sepsis!’ ”
Ashley Park speaks of ‘hopeful recovery’ after hospitalization for septic shock, trying to ‘get back into fighting shape’
Ashley Park for ‘Cosmopolitan’.
Brendan Wixted for Cosmopolitan
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Septic shock is a life-threatening medical condition that occurs when an infection in the body causes extremely low blood pressure and organ failure due to sepsis, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Park – who was also diagnosed with cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, when she was 15 – said comedy and jokes about her health battle only made it “easier” for her to cope.
“As an adult, I understand what coping mechanisms are. Things I didn’t know when I was a teenager,” she said. “And even though both of the extreme illnesses I had were such coincidences in a way — no one 15 years old should have cancer, and no one my age should have septic shock — I actually feel lucky. It was a real miracle how I recovered.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(734x0:736x2)/ashley-park-cosmopolitan-080624-89e93cfc24414f29afc18a588a4b33c8.jpg)
Ashley Park for ‘Cosmopolitan’.
Brendan Wixted for Cosmopolitan
The PEOPLE Puzzler has arrived! How fast can you solve it? Play now!
The actress pointed out that her battle with septic shock definitely came with a life lesson, and she hopes to pay more attention to her health in the future.
“I pushed too far,” she admitted. “I didn’t listen to my body. Now I think about my future and ask myself: ‘Am I putting myself in a position where I can do my best?’ That starts with my health. I’m going back to my old ways. I look and feel better, and I’m trying to stay as stable as possible and keep the same energy that people expect.”
Shortly after his recovery, Park jumped into filming the fourth season Emily in Parisdespite not feeling well.
“For me it was really just about survival,” she said. “I can’t remember anything because I wasn’t feeling well. But one thing I will give myself credit for is that I don’t think I’m the most talented, the prettiest, any of that. But I do the best I can, and that work ethic always means a lot. I think I’m super resilient.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education