Kaley Cuoco nearly lost leg after equestrian accident 

"The Big Bang Theory" co-creator Chuck Lorre said his 2007-19 hit sitcom could have ended after barely three seasons when ensemble star Kaley Cuoco nearly had to have a leg amputated after an equestrian accident.

"That was the darkest, most frightening time in all 12 years" of the show, Lorre, who turns 70 next week, recalled in the oral history "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series." The book by Jessica Radloff was released Tuesday and was excerpted in People magazine.

"Kaley could have lost her leg," the Manhattan-born and Plainview-raised producer continued. "It was a series of miracles that allowed us to get through that and for her to come out the other end of that healthy" after being thrown from a horse, which then landed on her.

"Before I went into surgery," recalled Cuoco, 36, now a two-time Emmy nominee for "The Flight Attendant," "they made me sign something that said, 'We don't know until we get in there and see this leg, and it could come out that you don't have it anymore.' That wasn't the case, obviously, but I had to sign something that said, 'OK, you can.' " While doctors thought she might not walk again, she said, she was ambulatory in two weeks with a boot, and, said Lorre, missed only two episodes.

Lorre credits her recovery to his chance meeting with Dr. Stephen Lombardo of Los Angeles' renowned Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute for sports medicine, whom he asked for help. Lorre said Cuoco went into surgery "with the best surgeons available to stop an infection because her leg was wide open."

He added, "Every time I see him, I say, 'Thank you! You saved Kaley! On a lesser level, you saved The Big Bang Theory!' "