Nina Dobrev Is a 'Little Ahead of Schedule' in Her Recovery from Dirt Bike Accident, but 'There's Still a Ways to Go' (Exclusive)

Nina Dobrev is making progress as she recovers from her motorcycle accident.

Speaking to PEOPLE at the 4th Annual Shiseido Blue Project Beach Cleanup in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Wednesday, August 7, vampire Diaries star, 35, gave an update on how she is recovering from the incident in May.

Nina Dobrev takes first steps without crutches 3 months after bike accident: ‘Most brutal recovery’

“I think I’m doing pretty well,” she says, adding that doctors “were quite surprised” at how quickly she recovered. “I’m a little ahead of schedule in terms of healing, but it’s still a very long process.”

Nina Dobrev at the SHISEIDO Blue Project Beach Cleanup.

Callaway/Variety River via Getty

Dobrev tells PEOPLE she tore her ACL, meniscus and fractured her tibial plateau while on a bike ride that landed her in the hospital.

“I didn’t know it meant nine months to a year of recovery. So now I’m only for a month, maybe three and a half,” she says.

“So there’s still a way to go. And a lot of times at this point in the healing process, people get re-injured because they feel good. And so they start doing normal things. So I kind of have to remind myself that I’m still recovering and there’s still a little bit of time.”

The actress, who has just returned from the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics with her boyfriend Shaun White, said the former professional snowboarder and skateboarder, 37, has been a “special” support during her recovery.

Nina Dobrev and Shaun White leave the Ritz Hotel in Paris.

Aissaoui Nacer / BACKGRID

“I mean, especially the Olympics,” Dobrev tells PEOPLE of her help during their trip, previously noting that it was her first time attending the Games.

“Like I said, I’d never been before, so I had no idea how much walking there was.”

Nina Dobrev recovers from bike accident: ‘Eat. Sleep. CPM machine. Physical Therapy. Repeat’

She adds: “All these streets are closed, so you have to walk from place to place and do all these things. And so he arranged in advance to have a wheelchair there so that I wouldn’t have to walk so much. We had my sticks and he was by my side the whole time and took care of me.”

Although Dobrev and White met briefly in 2012, they didn’t officially meet until 2019. In April 2020, they became Instagram official.

Nina Dobrev is recovering from a bicycle accident.

Nina Dobrev/Instagram

The pair were seen leaving the Ritz Hotel in Paris on July 28, the same day she posted an Instagram update full of clever quips.

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“I’m glad I’m not lugging those crutches anymore. They finally got me Christopher WALKEN. Ok dad jokes aside… ‘Get ready’ this is a long video and an even longer description. Last one 😂🫣,” she began as the post’s lengthy title.

In the broadcast, Dobrev admitted that Olympian Lindsey Vonn, speaking about her recent knee surgery, inspired her to share her story.

After saying that her accident felt like a sign from the universe “telling me to slow down,” the actress wrote: “Since I’ve started walking and traveling a bit, I’m feeling a lot more positive, I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel💫.”

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Source: HIS Education