Actress Emilia Clarke revealed Sunday that she suffered two brain aneurysms while filming “Game of Thrones” that left her with part of her brain “missing.”
“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, 35, told BBC One’s “Sunday Morning” host Sophie Raworth. “I am in the really, really, really, small minority of people that can survive that.”
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Clarke is the founder of SameYou, a charity focused on developing “better recovery treatment for survivors of brain injury and stroke,” which she launched in 2019, according to PopSugar. The actress has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through the organization, the outlet noted.
“There’s quite a bit [of brain] missing! Which always makes me laugh. Yes, because strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone,” Clarke told the BBC. “And so the blood finds a quicker, a different route to get around but then whatever bit is missing is therefore gone.” (RELATED: Huge Movie Star Tom Hiddleston Announces Life-Changing News)
Her first brain injury started in 2011 after she finished filming the first season of “Game of Thrones,” according to PopSugar. The then-24-year-old suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of stroke caused by bleeding around the brain, the outlet continued. She underwent surgery, which gave her aphasia (trouble with her speech) that left her unable to remember her own name for about a week, the outlet continued.
Two seasons of “Game of Thrones” later, Clarke was brought back into hospital as she had a growth on her brain, PopSugar continued. Despite suffering horrendous headaches, Clarke’s career has flourished since her initial injury, the outlet concluded.