While filming "Game of Thrones," Emilia Clarke developed two brain aneurysms that were potentially fatal.
The 32-year-old actress, who plays Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy drama, has revealed that in 2011, shortly after learning she had two brain aneurysms, she came dangerously close to passing away.
After watching the first season of "Game of Thrones," Emilia Clarke says she decided to relax by working out with a trainer, but soon started to experience "constricting pain" in her head.
"On the morning of February 11, 2011, I was getting dressed in the locker room of a gym in Crouch End, North London, when I started to feel a bad headache coming on," she wrote in an essay for The New Yorker titled "A Battle for My Life". I was so worn out that I had trouble even putting on my sneakers. I had to push myself through the first few exercises of my workout.
"My brain felt as though it were being squeezed by an elastic band when my trainer instructed me to do a plank. I made an effort to ignore the discomfort and persevere, but I was unsuccessful. I informed my trainer that I needed a break. I managed to get to the changing rooms despite nearly crawling. When I got to the bathroom, I fell to my knees and started to feel incredibly, violently ill. The pain, which was shooting, stabbing, and constricting, grew worse in the meantime. I was aware that something was wrong because my brain was hurt.
After leaving the gym, Emilia Clarke was taken to the hospital where an MRI revealed she had a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a type of life-threatening stroke brought on by bleeding into the area surrounding the brain.
About a third of SAH patients pass away immediately or shortly after, she continued, "as I later discovered. There is a very high risk of a second, frequently fatal bleed, so those patients who do survive need urgent treatment to seal off the aneurysm. I would require immediate surgery if I wanted to survive and avoid severe deficits. Furthermore, there were no guarantees even then.
Following surgery, Emilia Clarke developed aphasia, a language impairment brought on by brain trauma, and was unable to even remember her own name.
"I was experiencing aphasia, a side effect of the trauma my brain had undergone," she wrote. My mother did me the great kindness of trying to convince me that I was completely lucid even though I was muttering gibberish. But I was aware of my stumbling. At my worst, I wanted to turn the power off. I begged the medical team to let me pass away. My career and entire life's vision both revolved around language and communication. I couldn't function without it.
After a week in the hospital, the actress' aphasia subsided, but before going back to work, she was informed that she had a second, smaller aneurysm on the opposite side of her brain, which doctors thought would remain "dormant."
However, she continued, "The doctors said it was small and it was possible it would remain dormant and harmless for a very long time. We would simply keep a close eye on things.
"I told my 'Thrones' supervisors about my condition, but I didn't want it to be the focus of public debate and analysis. The program must continue! I was extremely unsure of myself even before Season 2 of our show started filming. I frequently believed I was going to pass away because I was so weak and woozy.
After experiencing a health scare, Emilia Clarke worked to found the nonprofit organization SameYou, which helps those recovering from strokes and brain injuries.
