Emilia Clarke reveals she is 'missing' parts of her brain after suffering two aneurysms

close

Video

Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines 7/18

Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines are here. Check out what clicked this week in entertainment.

Emilia Clarke revealed parts of her brain are missing after suffering two aneurysms while filming "Game of Thrones" in 2011 and in 2013. 

During a recent appearance on "BBC One’s Sunday Morning," Clarke opened up about the effects both her aneurysms had on her brain, after initially opening up about the traumatic experiences in an essay she wrote for the New York Times in 2019. 

Clarke shared that she herself is amazed she is able to continue living a normal life due to how much of her brain is actually missing or just considered unusable. 

Emilia Clarke revealed she's surprised she is still able to speak and live a normal life considering the amount of her brain was affected by her stroke and is essentially considered to be missing. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

"I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that… There's quite a bit missing!" "Clarke explained. "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."

‘GAME OF THRONES' AND ITS CREATORS SCORE RECORD-BREAKING EMMY NODS DESPITE FANS HATRED OF FINAL SEASON 

Clarke suffered her first stroke in 2011 after an aneurysm ruptured in her brain, which also caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Thankfully those around her acted fast, and she was rushed into brain surgery.

In her 2019 essay, Clarke remembered waking up in the ICU after her first brain surgery unable to remember her name and unable to communicate. She was suffering from aphasia due to the trauma her brain went through.

She recalled asking the doctors to let her die because she didn’t know how she would carry on without communicating and working her dream job as an actress, writing, "My job — my entire dream of what my life would be — centered on language, on communication. Without that, I was lost."

Clarke was afraid she would never be able to act again due to being diagnosed with aphasia after getting out of her first brain surgery. Thankfully she recovered and was able to return to "Game of Thrones" as Daenerys Targaryen. (HBO)

A week later, Clarke recovered from her aphasia and was able to return to work on "Game of Thrones." Two years later, she underwent a second surgery to get rid of another aneurysm growing in her brain, which had yet to burst but was reaching that point. 

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

After going through two traumatic brain surgeries, Clarke created a charity called SameYou with the goal of helping survivors of strokes and brain injuries recover in all aspects of their lives. 

The charity’s website cites their mission as helping "to transform the way brain injury survivors and their loved ones are supported through emotional, mental health and cognitive recovery services" because the journey doesn’t end once they leave the hospital but continues at home.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Clarke is now starring as Nina in the play "The Seagull" in London. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Clarke is currently starring as Nina, a young woman who is looking for fame as a means to escape the circumstances of her life, in Anya Reiss’ reimagination of Anton Chekhov’s play "The Seagull."