Joseph Fiennes recalls witnessing harrowing death that left him sleepless

Joseph Fiennes is looking back at a horrific accident and death he witnessed while holidaying in Costa Rica.

Fiennes went horse riding during his vacation and saw a fellow traveler die after being crushed by a horse.

Recalling the disturbing incident on the Travel Secrets podcast, he said: "I love horse riding and I got onto a horse early in the morning to go with a fellow traveler who was staying at the Haciena, who had just got married."

"I remember getting on the horse, seeing this lovely woman kiss her husband goodbye, and then the horse reared up, and she sadly pulled on the reigns and the weight of the horse came over her and the whole horse landed on her and she fell back and really broke her head on the gravel and died," he recalled.

The Shakespeare in Love star revealed that he held the woman for a while before she breathed her last, while her husband remained in shock.

"I held her for a while, her poor husband was in such shock, he couldn’t comprehend or communicate, and she slipped away," he said.

Understandably, The Handmaid’s Tale star had trouble falling asleep after witnessing the harrowing accident.

"I couldn’t sleep for, God I think, a month, I remember going back into the jungle at the foot of this volcano, and I was really shaken," he shared.

Joseph Fiennes will next be seen reprising his role as England football manager Gareth Southgate in the four part TV adaptation of Dear England. The show will air next year.