‘Game Of Thrones’ Star Says ‘It’s Remarkable’ She’s ‘Able To Speak’ After Suffering ‘Two Life-Threatening Brain Aneurysms’

Actress Emilia Clarke called it “remarkable” she’s “able to speak” and live her life after she suffered not one but “two life-threatening brain aneurysms” in 2011 and 2013.

The 35-year-old English star opened up about the aneurysm, calling it the “most excruciating pain” as she noted that it’s not something everyone can survive, during an interview she gave on BBC’s “Sunday Morning.” The comments were noted by Variety.

“It was the most excruciating pain,” the actress shared. “It was incredibly helpful to have ‘Game of Thrones’ sweep me up and give me that purpose.”

“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,” she added. “I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.”

Emilia Clarke recalls her recovery from two brain aneurysms while working on “Game of Thrones”: “I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.” https://t.co/y47ctg0cJ9

— Variety (@Variety) July 18, 2022

The actress also talked about seeing the scans of her brain after the aneurysms and said that “there’s quite a bit missing.”

“Which always makes me laugh… strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone,” Emilia told the outlet. “So the blood finds a different route to get around, but then whatever bit is missing is therefore gone.”

Shortly after the “Game of Thrones” star finished filming for season one of the hit HBO show, she experienced her first aneurysm which lead to a stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage, People magazine noted. Two years later, the “Me Before You” star would have surgery to stop a second aneurysm that was about to “pop.”

During Sunday’s interview, Clarke said she’s gotten to the point where she accepts what happened to her and said she’s no longer worrying about what could have been.

“I thought, ‘Well, this is who you are. This is the brain that you have,’” the superstar shared. “So there’s no point in continually wracking your brains about what might not be there.”

The “Last Christmas” star has since created a charity in England and Wales following her experiences to help others who’ve suffered from brain injuries and strokes. It’s called SameYou.

A message on the charity’s website explains that its purpose “is for brain injury survivors to feel they haven’t lost the person they were before.”

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