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UPDATE: After revealing to fans that she had survived two “life-threatening” brain aneurysms, Emilia Clarke is overwhelmed by the response she received.
The actress thanked her fans through a video on Instagram for their love and support after revealing her medical struggles in The New Yorker.
She captioned the video, “A million million thank yous to everyone who has read, shared and sent love for my story. It’s a beautiful thing to behold and I can’t quite believe how many of you this has affected!”
Emilia went on to encourage people to share their own stories of recovery.
“The response to my story has been overwhelming – and deeply, deeply moving,” the actress said in the video. “So, you’ve heard my story, and now we would like to hear yours.”
ORIGINAL: We know her mostly as Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kindogms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons.
But while Daenerys faced many different types of challenges in Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke was facing her own personal health challenges.
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The actress recently invited the public into her life struggles and revealed that she had had to undergo brain surgery while filming the hit series. Twice.
Writing in The New Yorker, Emilia talked about how she had suffered two “life-threatening” aneurysms.
After finishing filming of the first season of Game of Thrones in 2011, the actress was working out when she “immediately felt as though an elastic band were squeezing my brain.”
She collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where they diagnosed her with a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) – a life threatening type of stroke that’s caused by bleeding into the space surrounding the brain.
“As I later learned, about a third of SAH patients die immediately or soon thereafter. For the patients who do survive, urgent treatment is required to seal off the aneurysm, as there is a very high risk of a second, often fatal bleed,” Emilia wrote.
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After the first surgery, a condition called aphasia that impairs language, set in and the actress feared that her acting career was over. While in the hospital, Emilia was told that she had a smaller aneurysm on the other side of her brain that could “pop” at any time. The doctors informed her that “it was small and it was possible it would remain dormant and harmless indefinitely.”
Emilia recovered enough to return to filming season 2 of GoT. However she noted, “I was often so woozy, so weak, that I thought I was going to die.”
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A couple of years later in 2013, after wrapping on season 3 of GoT, the aneurysm on the other side of Emilia’s brain, popped.
The second surgery was way more intrusive and resulted in her having to have her skull opened up to save her life.
“The recovery was even more painful than it had been after the first surgery. I looked as though I had been through a war more gruesome than any Daenerys experienced,” she said.
“I emerged from the operation with a drain coming out of my head,” she continued. “Bits of my skull had been replaced by titanium. These days, you can’t see the scar that curves from my scalp to my ear, but I didn’t know at first that it wouldn’t be visible.”
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Fans need not fear losing the actress, as Emilia noted that she is now “at a hundred per cent.”
She has gone on to help develop a charity that supports people who are recovering from brain injuries and strokes.
“There is something gratifying, and beyond lucky, about coming to the end of Thrones. I’m so happy to be here to see the end of this story and the beginning of whatever comes next,” she ended.
You can read Emilia’s full account here.
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We’re grateful that Emilia survived fire and blood to give us the iconic Daenerys Targaryen that we love. We hope that she stays healthy and continues to live her life to the fullest.
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Info via The New Yorker