'Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta' Star Lori Allen Broke Multiple Bones in a Scary Fall

Not only does bridal shop owner Lori Allen have noticeably longer hair on the 11th season of her hit show Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, but the southern belle also underwent an unexpected cosmetic procedure soon after filming started up again on the TLC series.

In April 2019, the 60-year-old suffered multiple injuries after tripping on a dress train during a video shoot in her Sandy Springs, Ga. store. "When it was happening, I knew it would be bad," Lori told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the accident. 

"I remember saying to myself, 'Fall to your knees!' But it happened so fast, I couldn’t do it," she explained. "I face-planted on my face! It was like solid ice, Minnesota ice."

The fall left Lori with a broken nose, two cracked ribs, two broken wrists, a concussion, and two black eyes, resulting in a "tremendous amount of pain." The reality star had surgery on both her nose and right wrist, but admitted that things could’ve been a lot worse.

"I could have broken my neck or back," the TV personality shared, noting that none of her injuries resulted in long-term damage. "Everything is fixable. It’s just going to take time. I have to be patient and dig deep."

On May 6, 2019, the mother of two reunited with partner-in-crime Monte Durham and her boutique’s employees. "What a special day! I returned to [Bridals by Lori] today, and it was SO amazing to be back with my wonderful staff and brides," she wrote on Instagram. "Thank you all for cheering me on in my recovery!"

This wasn’t the first time Lori had been out on medical leave. During Season 3 of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta in 2012, she was diagnosed with breast cancer after a suspicious shadow turned up on her annual mammogram.

"When you get that kind of news, you lose all of your senses and you cannot focus," she revealed in an interview with Coping magazine. "I’m thinking, 'God, why do I have breast cancer? I try to live a great life. I try to set an example for people'… Then it dawned on me — why not? I have a huge platform for women… I’ve got to share this story."

Lori elected to get a double mastectomy after learning that she had two types of cancer in her right breast and atypical cells in her left breast. "The scars don’t bother me, because the scars tell a story of what I’ve been through," she said. 

"But I didn’t want to look at myself and not feel some normalcy, too. That’s why I went ahead with the reconstruction. I did what was right for me. You’ve got to come to the decision that makes you comfortable."

The grandmother has now been cancer-free for seven years. "There is light at the end of the tunnel," Lori declared. "It’s going to seem dark for awhile, [but] you’re going to be much stronger than you ever thought you were."

New episodes of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta air Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET on TLC.