Emilia Clarke, best known for her role of the fierce Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, demonstrates that she is equally brave in real life. Beyond the realm of fantasy, she encountered life-threatening obstacles, including two brain aneurysms. Her tenacity on film mirrored her perseverance off screen, as she went to remarkable lengths to protect her survival. Clarke’s story depicts a really courageous woman who achieved the unimaginable in both fiction and reality.
Emilia Clarke had a terrifying experience after finishing the first season of Game of Thrones in 2011, which she has never revealed. It was the beginning of 2011, and she was working out at a gym in North London to relieve tension. On February 11, 2011, while getting ready in the locker room, she developed a severe headache. She was so exhausted that she struggled to put on her sneakers. During her training, she felt like her brain was being squeezed when she got into the plank position.
She attempted to ignore the discomfort, but it intensified. Emilia had to convince her trainer that she needed a break. She barely made it to the dressing room, feeling as though an elastic band was compressing her brain. She grew unwell and realized something was badly wrong with her brain. She tried to will away the pain and nausea, assuring herself she was not going to be immobilized. She wiggled her fingers and toes to ensure she could.
In those terrifying moments, she even tried to recall phrases from Game of Thrones to keep her memory sharp.The diagnosis was devastating, and it seemed like the end of her life. Finally, she had a thorough brain scan. The diagnosis was rapid and foreboding: a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a severe type of stroke caused by bleeding into the area around the brain. An aneurysm, a rupture of an artery, was discovered.
Surprisingly, around one-third of SAH patients will die immediately or shortly after diagnosis. Survivors require immediate therapy to stabilize the aneurysm, as there is a high danger of a second, potentially fatal hemorrhage. To survive and avoid grave impairments, she needed emergency surgery. Even still, the
Her doctor discovered another major issue in 2013, prompting her to have another brain aneurysm surgery. When they woke her up, she was screaming in anguish. The surgery had failed. She suffered a huge bleed, and the physicians made it clear that her chances of survival were slim if they did not operate again. This time, they had to access her brain the old-fashioned way: via her skull. And the operation had to happen right away.
The recovery was more painful than the initial surgery. “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 said. She feels grateful to be one of the few people who can endure such an ordeal. Emilia Clarke has founded a nonprofit called SameYou. Its mission is to help people who have suffered a brain injury or had a stroke.
Despite having overcome her own medical issues, she has accepted her current health status. In the complicated fabric of life, it is critical to foster kindness and empathy for one another, because we never know what conflicts someone else is fighting. Each person bears their own burdens, experiences, and struggles, which may not always be apparent on the surface.