“I’m very thankful that I left well,” the actress told PEOPLE at the Daytime Emmy Awards
Young and restless star Courtney Hope says she is “doing very well” after being involved in a car crash earlier this month.
Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the 50th Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, the actress, who plays Sally Spectra on the long-running series, said it means “everything” to her to be able to support her friends at the event after her Dec. 4. clash.
“I’m fine,” Hope, 34, told PEOPLE at a gathering in Los Angeles. “I am very grateful that I left well. My car will be fine. The other party was fine. Everyone was fine and I am very grateful to them.”
“Things like that really shake you up,” she added. “You’re going about your day, and it’s an abrupt interruption. But in the end it turned out wonderful.”
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In situations like the accident in the Hollywood Hills — which Hope said happened “right in front” of famed magician Harry Houdini’s estate on Laurel Canyon Boulevard — the actress said she was able to calm down with “just a lot of breathing.”
“And honestly, I’m just trying to take a moment to focus on the blessings that I have,” she continued. “I thank God and my faith that I just said, ‘Hey, trials and tribulations happen in life.’ It’s part of life, but as long as I can stay calm in it and trust that everything will make sense in the end, everything will be fine.”
“And if not, it makes a good story,” added the actress.
However, Hope also noted that she is still trying to grasp the significance of the incident.
“It was really strange. I thought, ‘I don’t know what to take from this, but I feel like it’s something,'” she said. “And I really sat with it for a week trying to figure out what does that mean? And my friend said, ‘Well, you escaped unscathed, like Houdini.’ And I said: ‘That’s true, I am’. ”
“[But it felt] like it was the culmination of a moment, something bigger,” Hope added to PEOPLE. “I don’t know. But it definitely felt like something bigger was going on.”
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Courtney Hope was involved in a car accident on December 4th.
Victoria Sirakova/Getty
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Hope shared news of the Dec. 4 crash on her Instagram story earlier this month, writing at the time, “So thankful that everyone involved was okay.”
In another post, Hope told fans: “I also have to say the craziest experience was how positive and incredibly beautiful it ended up being with, you know, a guy [other driver] and his family, and my family, and the people who witnessed it stayed for hours, both workers and neighbors.”
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For now, Hope said she is moving on from the accident and is currently focused on spending quality time with loved ones this holiday season.
“I travel every year, so this year I’m here staying with my family and I couldn’t be happier,” she explained. “I feel like there have been so many moving parts this year in so many different ways that it’s so nice to just sit back, be at peace, enjoy good music, good wine and company, and have a good time.”
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Source: HIS Education