Donna D'Errico opens up about Noah's Ark slip

Former Baywatch star-turned relic hunter Donna D'Errico has her mountain guide to thank for her life after he scooped her to safety when she started plummeting to her death in a rock slide.

In a tearful chat with news show Access Hollywood, the actress has opened up about the accident which left her beaten and swollen during a summer (12) expedition to find the remains of Noah's Ark in Turkey.

D'Errico admits it was a sudden fear of what she was doing that prompted the slide, which almost cost her her life.

She explains, "I made the mistake of looking back and I looked behind me and we were so far up on the face of this rock... and I'm not a professional rock climber... I realized what kind of danger I was in. All I started thinking about was my kids.

"(I thought), 'I can die right now if I lose my footing...' I felt my whole body tense up and I didn't test the rocks like I should have... and I stepped on the wrong one and it pushed all of the others out of place and I was basically on top of a rock slide.

"My face was dragging over the face of all of these rocks; I was ping-ponging like a pinball machine... I was trying to stop myself and I couldn't."

Her Turkish guide managed to scramble to her before she disappeared over a cliff.

She adds, "I think my feet were dangling (over the edge)."

The terrifying accident forced her to return to her U.S. home last month (Aug12), but D'Errico insists the trip was eye-opening and she will be heading back to Turkey in the near future to continue her epic quest - and fulfil a "lifelong dream".