Emilia Clarke: Part of My Brain 'Is No Longer Usable' After Aneurysms
The Game of Thrones star revealed the truth about her condition: apparently, she wasn't likely to survive her two aneurysms and is only still going strong against all odds.
For most of us, Emilia Clarke is the legendary Daenerys Targaryen, the gorgeous Queen of the Seven Kingdoms from Game of Thrones. Some know her for other performances, too — for instance, for Me Before You or Secret Invasion. Finally, she’s widely regarded as the most wholesome and enthusiastic celebrity to have ever been part of popular late-night shows.
Few people know Emilia Clarke the human being, though, and there’s quite a lot to uncover there. This energetic and easy-going woman has withstood her fair share of tough blows, many of which would’ve knocked down others but not her. Life may pack a punch, but so does Emilia Clarke — and she doesn’t like sharing her hardships.
When Clarke was starring in Game of Thrones, she not only lost her father but also survived two severe brain aneurysms. Such strokes are deadly in many cases and tend to have disastrous consequences for survivors; the actress learned it the hard way when she had to deal with aphasia and partial memory loss after the aneurysms.
In fact, it was a wonder that Emilia Clarke recovered from her strokes as well as she did. In most cases, people don’t get so lucky — and Clarke appreciates her fortune.
“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. I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that,” the actress shared on BBC One’s Sunday Morning.
Despite miraculously surviving two aneurysms without significant quality-of-life sacrifices, Emilia Clarke still misses entire parts of her brain: she saw the scans and dealt with the realization that parts of it went completely dead after the strokes.
“There’s quite a bit [of my brain] missing! Which always makes me laugh. Because strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone. And so the blood finds a different route to get around but then whatever bit it’s missing is therefore gone,” Clarke explained in a rather upbeat fashion.
Despite all these hardships, the actress never gave up: she continued starring in Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Terminator, Marvel’s Secret Invasion, and numerous standalone movies like Me Before You and The Pod Generation after the aneurysms.
No sort of brain tumor can stop the Mother of Dragons, you might think — but it’s always good to remember that Emilia Clarke is way more than that. She’s a talented actress, a wholesome human being, and a phenomenally strong and resilient woman.
Source: BBC One via Independent UK