- Sheryl Lee Ralph was in a car accident April 7 where the vehicle went over a loading dock
- The actress injured her arm during the accident and recalled asking God if she was going to die
- She admitted that she has PTSD and gets nervous getting into a car after the accident
Sheryl Lee Ralph is opening up about dealing with PTSD after her recent car accident.
On April 15, the Abbot Elementary star, 68, spoke to PEOPLE and gave an update on how she’s feeling a week after hurting her arm in the scary incident.
“Girl, it’ll be better. But in those moments, when it was happening, when that car was going right down into that cement, I was like, ‘Oh my God, am I dying today?’” she recalled. “I said, ‘God, am I dying today? No, God, don’t let me die today. I’m going to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.’ But guess what? I didn’t die. I just got a beat up arm, but I didn’t die.”
Ralph — who was previously wearing a sling in public — explained she was no longer wearing it because it causes “too much attention” and “makes everybody feel nervous.” Despite ditching the sling, the actress said the accident left her with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), realizing that she was nervous getting back into a car.
“When that SUV pulled up today, I looked at it before I got in it. I was like, oh my God, this is post-traumatic syndrome, that’s what it is,” she said. “But I’m always telling people life is short, and I experienced just how short life can be because that was a freak accident. Who would have thought?”
“I’m gonna enjoy this time off. Yes, I am,” she added. “I’m gonna do most of the things I said I really wanted to do, and I’m gonna enjoy them.”
Stefanie Keenan/Getty
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Ralph first revealed she was in a car accident during a recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after showing up wearing a sling.
“Man, I was in a car accident!” she told host Stephen Colbert. “The car went over the loading dock. We went nose down.”
Ralph said that although she felt beat after the accident, it wasn’t going to stop her from showing up to work.
“The adrenaline kicked in so much,” she continued. “I was on my way to a speaking engagement in the car. It was terrible. But I felt like, ‘OK, move forward, move forward.”
The Emmy winner admitted that it wasn’t until the following day that she woke up feeling “terrible.”
“I woke up Tuesday feeling like I had done 12 rounds with Muhammad Ali,” Ralph said. “Life is short, people. Remember that!”