Emilia Clarke Opens Up About Life-Threatening Health Scare: ‘Missing Parts’ of My Brain

Emilia Clarke is opening up about surviving two brain aneurysms and being thankful for her recovery after losing “quite a bit” of the vital organ. The Game of Thrones alum, 35, spoke about her life-threatening health scare during an interview with BBC’s Sunday Morning, which she visited to promote her West End debut, the production of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” at London’s Harold Pinter Theater.

“It was the most excruciating pain,” Clarke recalled of her aneurysms. “It was incredibly helpful to have Game of Thrones sweep me up and give me that purpose.” Clarke explained that she suffered the two terrifying and traumatic incidents while working on the acclaimed HBO series.

The first occurred in 2011, the same year that GOT premiered, and the second happened in 2013. Both of these medical emergencies required hospital stays and long recovery periods, she said. The Me Before You actress first spoke of the aneurysms in 2019, and is now detailing fans on what her journey entailed after getting better.

“The amount of my brain that is no longer usable— it’s remarkable that I am able to speak, sometimes articulately, and live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions,” Clarke continued, “I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.” She then remembered the time she saw scans of her brain after the stressful incidents.

“There’s quite a bit [of my brain] missing,” the Solo star said before giggling, “Which always makes me laugh… Strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone. So the blood finds a different route to get around, but then whatever bit is missing is therefore gone.” Since then, she noted that she has created a charity called SameYou that raise money for stroke and brain injury victims.

In her recovery, Clarke accepted her condition and is looking toward the future with more optimism. “I thought, ‘Well, this is who you are. This is the brain that you have.’ So there’s no point in continually wracking your brains about what might not be there,” Clarke added.

Fans on Twitter of course, couldn’t be happier for Clarke and the fact that she has had a healthy recovery. “We love you Emilia, so happy to hear you’re okay!” wrote one fan while another recently added, “love your outlook on life and what you’re doing for brain injury victims.”