EMILIA’S REAL BATTLE OF SURVIVAL
Survivor of two separate brain aneurysm ruptures, actress Emilia Clarke, best known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, has set up a global charity for neurological stroke rehabilitation services.4
Although she experienced the ruptures in 2011 and 2013, she only revealed the details of her experience last year, when the popular fantasy television series ended. SameYou aims to provide treatment for people recovering from brain i njuries and stroke. With the increased pressure on healthcare services during the pandemic, funds raised are now extending supports online to those who cannot access therapy locally.
Penning her story for The New Yorker, Emilia shared her worry that she would lose her Game Of Thrones role after she suffered two brain aneurysms. The first brain aneurysm ruptured while the actress was just 24, while working out at a London gym, while her second brain bleed occurred during interventional surgery in 2013. An open craniotomy was required following complications in order to save her life.
Emilia had an initial ‘excruciating headache’ and was sent straight into hospital. Describing the first ordeal in her own words she said: ‘I was sent for an MRI, a brain scan. The diagnosis was quick and ominous: a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a lifethreatening type of stroke, caused by bleeding into the space surrounding the brain. I’d had an aneurysm, an arterial rupture. If I was to live and avoid terrible deficits, I would have to have urgent surgery. And, even t hen, t here were no guarantees.’
Emilia shared shocking post-operative photos of herself following her open brain surgery. Now back to 100 per cent, Emilia says she wants to break the silence on this common, silent and devastating condition.
‘One in three people will suffer a brain injury in their lifetime. It’s shocking to me - and you too, probably - that such a common health problem is so little known and barely spoken about. I made a full recovery but many more people don’t.’ ÷