Emilia Clarke Shares 5 Never-Before-Seen Photos From Hospital After Having Two Aneurysms
Emilia Clarke is known to many of us as Daenerys Targaryen the mother of dragons and – let’s face it one of the most badass characters on Game of Thrones – while she was conquering kingdoms onscreen little did her fans know she was battling an even bigger fight offscreen. Recently the queen shared with the world how she has suffered multiple life-threatening brain aneurysms, the first one occurring right after the first season of Game of Thrones had wrapped. For the first time ever the actress shared never-before-seen photos of herself following the surgery, as she recovered in the hospital.
Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke is opening up about her life-threatening brain aneurysms with never-before-seen photos of her hospitalization
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In an essay titled ‘A Battle For My Life,’ published in the New Yorker, the actress reveals that in 2011 she was rushed to the hospital for urgent surgery for a subarachnoid hemorrhage – a type of stroke that one-third of patients can die from.
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The actress wrote that she had been pushing herself hard in the gym, and felt the pressure she was experiencing from the new fame. During one of her workout session, the aneurysm hit. “My trainer had me get into the plank position, and I immediately felt as though an elastic band were squeezing my brain. I tried to ignore the pain and push through it, but I just couldn’t. I told my trainer I had to take a break. Somehow, almost crawling, I made it to the locker room. I reached the toilet, sank to my knees, and proceeded to be violently, voluminously ill. Meanwhile, the pain—shooting, stabbing, constricting pain—was getting worse. At some level, I knew what was happening: my brain was damaged.”
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Clarke went on to write that despite the fear for her life, a bigger fear was centered on her career. She wrote: “I’d never experienced fear like that — a sense of doom closing in. I could see my life ahead, and it wasn’t worth living. I am an actor; I need to remember my lines. Now I couldn’t recall my name. In my worst moments, I wanted to pull the plug. I asked the medical staff to let me die. My job — my entire dream of what my life would be — centered on language, on communication. Without that, I was lost.”
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On CBS This Morning the actress shared the photos from her hospitalization and opened up more about what would become on the ongoing fight. Clarke had returned to work six weeks after the incident and told her bosses she wanted her health condition to remain private, “I told my bosses at Thrones about my condition, but I didn’t want it to be a subject of public discussion and dissection. The show must go on! Season two would be my worst. I didn’t know what Daenerys was doing. If I am truly being honest, every minute of every day I thought I was going to die,” she wrote.
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Her fears were reawoken when she suffered her second aneurysm two years later. “So, with the second one, there was a bit of my brain that actually died,” Clarke said. “If a part of your brain doesn’t get blood to it for a minute, it will just no longer work. It’s like you short circuit. So, I had that. And they didn’t know what it was. They literally were looking at the brain and being like, ‘Well, we think it could be her concentration, it could be her peripheral vision [affected].’ I always say it’s my taste in men that’s no longer there! That’s the part of my brain, yeah, my decent taste in men.”
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Once again the only thing she could think about was her career, saying in her interview she thought this time might have caused her to lose her ability completely. “Really, really, really did. That was a deep paranoia, from the first one as well. I was like, ‘What if something has short-circuited in my brain and I can’t act anymore?’ I mean, literally it’s been my reason for living for a very long time!”
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Trying to recover from a second brain injury was much more difficult wrote Clarke, “The recovery was even more painful than it had been after the first surgery. I looked as though I had been through a war more gruesome than any that Daenerys experienced.” In her interview she said her role as powerful Khaleesi helped her get her fire back. “you go on set and you play a badass and you walk through fire, and that became the thing that just saved me from considering my own mortality.”
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The actress wrote in her essay she felt it was time to open up about her condition and said she felt fortunate: “After keeping quiet all these years, I’m telling you the truth in full. Please believe me: I know that I am hardly unique, hardly alone. Countless people have suffered far worse, and with nothing like the care I was so lucky to receive.”
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And has even begun a charity organization to promote visibility for brain inury survivors, “I’ve decided to throw myself into a charity I’ve helped develop in conjunction with partners in the U.K. and the U.S. It is called SameYou, and it aims to provide treatment for people recovering from brain injuries and stroke.”
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Ramping up for the finale of Game of Thrones, the actress is completely in the clear brain-wise and is looking forward to the future. “There’s been so much life that I’ve lived in the ten years that I’ve been working on the show. So, you’re saying good-bye to so much more than just the character. I’m saying good-bye to my twenties!”
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“There is something gratifying, and beyond lucky, about coming to the end of “Thrones.” I’m so happy to be here to see the end of this story and the beginning of whatever comes next.”
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Fans across the internet shared their love and support for the actress
She is so lucky to be alive. My dad died of a brain aneurysm 11 years ago. It was such a shock. He was sitting up in bed one morning and after I heard him put the phone down I went in to ask him if he wanted a cup of tea and he was lying there dead. The verdict was that it was an aneurysm that had just burst killing him instantly. My doctor said "it was just like some turning his lights out. He would have felt no pain and not known what was happening." It was a terrible shock for all of us but we took comfort in knowing he died the way he deserved to ; quickly and without pain. No long drawn out painful disease like cancer. The time he went too was fortuitous as he was planning to go into town for some Christmas shopping later that morning (he died on December 18th). Had he been driving when the aneurysm happened he would have crashed his car and maybe taken somebody with him which of course would have been the last thing any of us would have wanted. Especially dad.
I had an aneurysm back in 1996 (Christmas Eve!) at age 46. So I relate. I'm very lucky my husband got me to the hospital quickly and that the neurosurgeon on call was able (with medication) to get the bleed slowed enough for me to make it to surgery to repair it. I'm massively lucky to be alive 23 years later. Everyone says my personality changed a bit, but not many aftereffects - thank goodness. I'm so sorry about your dad!
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not only is she a very talented and stunning woman, she is very strong and inspiring! bless her!
It takes strength and it helps to be stubborn. I'm one of the 10%-ers. I survived a Grade 5 brain aneurysm in 2015 and had to relearn everything, including how to write my name. But I walk with a cane and mowed the lawn yesterday. Oh, and did our taxes. :-D. Stay strong, sister!
I was recently (at age 65) diagnosed with epilepsy after, I now know, my second major seizure. Her description of the experiences and her reactions of fear and dread sound, to me, remarkably similar to my own diagnosis and its aftermath as well as those of others in an epilepsy group I’m a member of. I’ll never be able to thank Ms. Clarke in person, but I’m nonetheless grateful beyond words for her openness about her condition and its effects. I’ll dare to call her a kindred spirit.
Wow, this is amazing. When I was eight I had a brain aneurysm. Six weeks later I had another one that hemorrhaged causing a stroke. She is powerful, it was way harder for me.
I had the privilege to talk to Emilia once. She looked familiar but I didn't know it was her at the time. She'd been walking her dog and had stopped to sit on a bench next to me. We had a nice chat! She's a lovely, sweet, kind and genuine person. A great role model for anyone. I'd never have guessed she was such a mega-star until she told me her name. I hope she'll be ok. She's a type of person that we simply need more of!
Yeah ... i remember my hero DAD who went sick some yeras ago.Ended up in hospital and one morning he was sitting up on the bedside with some nurses help.It was Cristmas moning and he wanted to go home one last time when he fell back into this hospital bed.He died of aneurysms combined with a heart attack ... And yeah, one more time i am crying when i write these lines when i remember the good times with my hero DAD.
Holy s**t, I had no idea! Good for her for sharing this with the world; brain aneurysms are one of the scariest things I can think of.
Emilia Clarke is a force; for all her talent and obvious strengths, she still inspires a person to feel protective of her. I felt that "mothering" instinct when I first saw her on "GOT" You want to stand by her and for her with the same fierceness she has. I hope all her life is blessed and that she will be here for all of us to appreciate for a very long time.
How very funny. When an AVM bleed ended my 25-year career as a medical transcriptionist, I didn't bother with makeup or clothes or looking pretty. Hospital told my partner I wouldn't last the night, but two months later partner rehabbed me enough that we got back to taking long walks. and having really kinky sex 3 times a week.
Lost two friends,,,very young age to brain aneurysm...perhaps everyone's recovery is different but their speech and vision was impacted as was their overall mobility...you will never be the same as you were before....there's always something that doesn't quite function as it did before the aneurysm...that being said, celebrities say all kinds of c**p ..
This happened to my hairdresser a few years ago. She was at home with her wife watching TV and had a sudden headache. Within minutes it was so painful that she vomited and thankfully her wife got her to the hospital in time. ...///... She was 11 hours in surgery to stop the bleeding (no stitches, they ran a catheter up an artery in her leg with a camera, very cool), she spend four weeks in intensive care, and another three weeks at home before her doctors declared her well enough to go back to work. ...///... She was lucky. There’s no sign of another aneurism and she’s back to normal.
Wow. It just goes to show how vulnerable we really are. In the hospital photos she's no "Mother of Dragons", she's just a regular, scared young woman who's in pain and wants it to be over. I just want to tell her it's all going to be okay. Glad she was able to get help and glad she was able to get back to work!
She is so lucky to be alive. My dad died of a brain aneurysm 11 years ago. It was such a shock. He was sitting up in bed one morning and after I heard him put the phone down I went in to ask him if he wanted a cup of tea and he was lying there dead. The verdict was that it was an aneurysm that had just burst killing him instantly. My doctor said "it was just like some turning his lights out. He would have felt no pain and not known what was happening." It was a terrible shock for all of us but we took comfort in knowing he died the way he deserved to ; quickly and without pain. No long drawn out painful disease like cancer. The time he went too was fortuitous as he was planning to go into town for some Christmas shopping later that morning (he died on December 18th). Had he been driving when the aneurysm happened he would have crashed his car and maybe taken somebody with him which of course would have been the last thing any of us would have wanted. Especially dad.
I had an aneurysm back in 1996 (Christmas Eve!) at age 46. So I relate. I'm very lucky my husband got me to the hospital quickly and that the neurosurgeon on call was able (with medication) to get the bleed slowed enough for me to make it to surgery to repair it. I'm massively lucky to be alive 23 years later. Everyone says my personality changed a bit, but not many aftereffects - thank goodness. I'm so sorry about your dad!
Load More Replies... not only is she a very talented and stunning woman, she is very strong and inspiring! bless her!
It takes strength and it helps to be stubborn. I'm one of the 10%-ers. I survived a Grade 5 brain aneurysm in 2015 and had to relearn everything, including how to write my name. But I walk with a cane and mowed the lawn yesterday. Oh, and did our taxes. :-D. Stay strong, sister!
I was recently (at age 65) diagnosed with epilepsy after, I now know, my second major seizure. Her description of the experiences and her reactions of fear and dread sound, to me, remarkably similar to my own diagnosis and its aftermath as well as those of others in an epilepsy group I’m a member of. I’ll never be able to thank Ms. Clarke in person, but I’m nonetheless grateful beyond words for her openness about her condition and its effects. I’ll dare to call her a kindred spirit.
Wow, this is amazing. When I was eight I had a brain aneurysm. Six weeks later I had another one that hemorrhaged causing a stroke. She is powerful, it was way harder for me.
I had the privilege to talk to Emilia once. She looked familiar but I didn't know it was her at the time. She'd been walking her dog and had stopped to sit on a bench next to me. We had a nice chat! She's a lovely, sweet, kind and genuine person. A great role model for anyone. I'd never have guessed she was such a mega-star until she told me her name. I hope she'll be ok. She's a type of person that we simply need more of!
Yeah ... i remember my hero DAD who went sick some yeras ago.Ended up in hospital and one morning he was sitting up on the bedside with some nurses help.It was Cristmas moning and he wanted to go home one last time when he fell back into this hospital bed.He died of aneurysms combined with a heart attack ... And yeah, one more time i am crying when i write these lines when i remember the good times with my hero DAD.
Holy s**t, I had no idea! Good for her for sharing this with the world; brain aneurysms are one of the scariest things I can think of.
Emilia Clarke is a force; for all her talent and obvious strengths, she still inspires a person to feel protective of her. I felt that "mothering" instinct when I first saw her on "GOT" You want to stand by her and for her with the same fierceness she has. I hope all her life is blessed and that she will be here for all of us to appreciate for a very long time.
How very funny. When an AVM bleed ended my 25-year career as a medical transcriptionist, I didn't bother with makeup or clothes or looking pretty. Hospital told my partner I wouldn't last the night, but two months later partner rehabbed me enough that we got back to taking long walks. and having really kinky sex 3 times a week.
Lost two friends,,,very young age to brain aneurysm...perhaps everyone's recovery is different but their speech and vision was impacted as was their overall mobility...you will never be the same as you were before....there's always something that doesn't quite function as it did before the aneurysm...that being said, celebrities say all kinds of c**p ..
This happened to my hairdresser a few years ago. She was at home with her wife watching TV and had a sudden headache. Within minutes it was so painful that she vomited and thankfully her wife got her to the hospital in time. ...///... She was 11 hours in surgery to stop the bleeding (no stitches, they ran a catheter up an artery in her leg with a camera, very cool), she spend four weeks in intensive care, and another three weeks at home before her doctors declared her well enough to go back to work. ...///... She was lucky. There’s no sign of another aneurism and she’s back to normal.
Wow. It just goes to show how vulnerable we really are. In the hospital photos she's no "Mother of Dragons", she's just a regular, scared young woman who's in pain and wants it to be over. I just want to tell her it's all going to be okay. Glad she was able to get help and glad she was able to get back to work!
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