emilia clarke

Emilia Clarke says parts of her brain are 'no longer usable' after brain aneurysms

Emilia suffered two aneurysms in 2011 and 2013

Rebecca Lewis - Los Angeles
Los Angeles correspondentLos Angeles
July 19, 2022

Game Of Thrones' star Emilia Clarke has revealed that parts of her brain are "no longer usable" after she suffered a brain aneurysm in her twenties.

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The actress, 35, shared how lucky she feels to be able to communicate and "live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions," after the aneurysms in 2011 and again in 2013.

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"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," Emilia told BBC's Saturday Morning.

"I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that."

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She went on to say that it always makes her "laugh" to know that "quite a bit" of her brain is now "missing".

"Strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone,” she continued. "And so the blood finds a quicker, a different route to get around but then whatever bit it’s missing is therefore gone."

Emilia with her co-stars in 2011

Emilia shared her diagnosis with fans in 2019 in an article for The New Yorker.

The British-born star, who found fame as Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, was in a gym in London in 2011 when she was hit with the first one.

"I was so fatigued that I could barely put on my sneakers. When I started my workout, I had to force myself through the first few exercises," she wrote. "Then my trainer had me get into the plank position, and I immediately felt as though an elastic band were squeezing my brain. I tried to ignore the pain and push through it, but I just couldn’t."

Emilia starred as Daenerys

She later became "voluminously ill" and was rushed to the hospital.

Emilia has since created a charity for brain injury and stroke victims called SameYou.

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