This past spring, Emilia Clarke opened up about suffering two brain hemorrhages after filming wrapped on the first and third seasons of Game of Thrones. Emilia explained to Stephen Colbert, “I genuinely knew I was being brain damaged.” She spoke with People for their Kindness Issue about the support she received, including from EMTs and nurses:
In PEOPLE’s first-ever Kindness Issue, the Game of Thrones‘ actress opens up about her painful recovery journey since her 2011 and 2013 aneurysms — and how she was able to overcome the difficult hurdles with the help of strangers and loved ones.
“It was a brain aneurysm that ruptured, and it was pretty traumatic,” Clarke, 33, says in this week’s issue. “The paramedics were unbelievable. They’d given me drugs so I was in less pain, wrapped me up like a tortilla and made me laugh the whole way to the hospital. There I was, bleeding in the brain, and there we were in this ambulance having an absolute giggle. They were so gracious.”
In March, the Last Christmas star revealed she underwent two life-saving brain surgeries over the past eight years to correct two different aneurysm growths. Clarke’s health problems started in February 2011, shortly after wrapping filming on the first season of HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones.
Emilia heaped praise on her nurses:
“And every single nurse I came across was so kind,” Clarke says. “It’s why I became ambassador to the Royal College of Nursing in 2018. Nurses are the unsung heroes, they’re at people’s most frightening moments.
“The whole experience inspired me to launch my charity SameYou,” she adds. “People’s lives are transformed completely after a brain injury, and the core of our work is recovery — it’s not just the first weeks that you need help, you still need help for years. I wanted to match someone with a consistent person who has the answers and can hold their hand and tell them that they’re not alone. Being there when someone is scared, confused or angry is one of the kindest things you can do.”
[From People]
Emilia’s experiences sound terrifying. I have a friend who survived an aneurysm, and it was a long road of recovery that they are grateful for every single day. I think it’s wonderful that Emilia is taking the time to thank the medical professionals who saved her life and took care of her. They are heroes who don’t often get the recognition that they deserve. As Emilia said, her charity, SameYou, works to support and advocate for people who experience brain injuries. I’m so glad that she’s doing well, and that she’s used her own experience as a way to pursue a project that is meaningful to her and that has the potential to help others and save lives.
Emilia’s comments about realizing that she was experiencing a brain injury reminded me of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s Ted Talk about her stroke. Dr. Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist, recognized one morning that she was having a stroke, and was fascinated by the chance, as a scientist who studied the brain, to be able to pay attention to what was happening. I first saw her interviewed by Oprah eons ago, and her Ted Talk is worth a watch.
photos credit: Avalon.red
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