Emilia Clarke Shares Heartbreaking Photos From When She Nearly Died
Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke is opening up about the time she nearly died from a brain aneurysm. It’s hard to imagine HBO’s fantasy epic without the Mother of Dragons, but that was a very real possibility Game of Thrones faced when she suffered a life-threatening stroke during Season 1.
Known for playing the formidable force that is Daenerys Targaryen, Clarke has ruled the (dragon) roost since 2011. Behind the scenes, things haven’t been as easy for for and she explains how she thought she’d been badly brain damaged.
The actress suffered a potentially fatal brain haemorrhage in 2010 before having major surgery that left her unable to recall her own name. She lived with a time-bomb aneurysm on her brain before again suffering a bleed in her brain. Doctors immediately operated by opening up her skull.
Now, the 32-year-old is reminding fans how close she came to death in a series of candid interviews. Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning, Clarke wanted to raise awareness and shed light on her condition. In a series of never-before-seen photos, Clarke can be seen in a hospital bed and with a drip attached to her head.
During the interview, the young star admitted, “Very quickly I realised I couldn’t stand and I couldn’t walk, and in that moment I knew I was being brain damaged.” She continued, “The second one there was a bit of my brain that actually died, if your brain doesn’t get blood to it for a minute it will just no longer work. It’s like you short-circuit.”
Back in March, she announced her private problems in an open letter for The New Yorker. She confessed that just after she’d wrapped filming on Season 1 of Thrones, a gym session turned into a deadly incident when she suffered the massive stroke.
At least she can find the lighter side of the ordeal, joking “I always say it’s my taste in men that’s no longer there.” Thankfully, her role as Dany helped Clarke get through this tragic time of her life. “You got on set and you play a bada*s and you walk through fire, and that became the thing that saved me from considering my mortality.”
Even if Dany’s trio of dragons is down to two, she’s still one of the hot contenders to sit on the Iron Throne in Season 7. Now, Clarke is fighting fit and channelling all the power of her on-screen counterpart. Things could’ve very different, but thankfully, she’s managed to make it out the other side.
