What Brooke Shields Learned From Suffering A Terrible Leg Injury

After decades in the entertainment industry, Brooke Shields has seen it all. She's appeared in dozens of films, television shows, and even a few plays. Shields began her career as a model and quickly rose to fame after taking on controversial roles in films like "Pretty Baby" and "Blue Lagoon." By the '90s, Shields was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world.

These days, Shields still acts and models — but is more focused on doing the things she loves, like spending time with her family and working out. Shields has always been passionate about physical fitness. "I have to work really hard to be fit," Shields told The Moms in 2020. "I'm not a naturally ectomorphic person. I have to really work my a** off but I'm stronger and healthier, and now I don't feel like I have to hide as much."

That all came crashing down when Shields suffered a severe leg injury while working out a few months later. It's been a long road to recovery for Shields, but she's finally almost there. Read on to find out what Shields has learned from the emotionally and physically difficult journey.

Speaking to "Good Morning America" in May, Brooke Shields claimed that her January leg injury was the scariest and most painful experience of her life. Shields fell while trying to use a balance board at the gym. She landed hard and broke her femur. "The only thing I could keep saying was that I could feel my toes because I just knew that I couldn't move, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't paralyzed," she told the outlet.

Doctors placed a rod in her leg, but had to make adjustments when Shields awoke screaming in the hospital because the rod had separated from the bone. "I don't think I've ever been more afraid, because I was helpless," she explained.

As difficult as it was, Shields spent the next several months focusing on her recovery — she's learning how to walk again — and spending time with her daughters. The road wasn't always easy (she even developed a staph infection), but Shields is in a better place these days, and she's learned a lot. "If I can turn it into anything positive, or I can teach my girls, yeah, stuff is going to happen in your life, and how you respond is going to define you, and adversity will reveal you," she said. "You see what you're made up of."

"I want them to know that they deserve to feel good about themselves and be healthier and happier [and] live a bigger life."