At the end of 2024, Gal Gadot took to social media to reflect on her rollercoaster of a year, quietly welcoming her fourth daughter, Ori, while dealing with a traumatic brain clot.
The actress opened up about it on Instagram with a lengthy message explaining what happened, and further expanded upon the experience during an appearance on Good Morning America.
During an interview on the morning news show on Monday, March 10, Gal was asked about the terrifying ordeal, and her very first take was for viewers to "advocate for your health," adding: "Our body always gives us signs."
"I didn't listen to my body," she recalled of the experience. "I had major headaches while I was eight months pregnant for three weeks. But really, I couldn't do anything, I was in the dark, I couldn't hear anything. It felt like my head was about to explode."
She remembered being checked by several neurologists, who couldn't find any other symptoms and simply diagnosed her with a migraine. But it was her mother who ultimately pushed her to get herself checked and admitted to a hospital.
"My mom, we talk a million times a day everyday, but after three weeks, she told my husband, 'Enough. We need to get her checked, do an MRI'," she remembered, even looking back on the specific date, February 5, 2024, a very rainy day in Los Angeles. "It was like the world was ending."
Despite her reluctance, her mother pushed her to get a check-up done, which proved to be the right move. "I was rushed to the hospital, I was found with a major brain clot," Gal revealed. "They took the baby out within a couple hours, and I went to a thrombectomy."
She continued that while she was all okay now, "had I known before, it could've been much easier," adding: "But nevertheless, I'm very happy to be alive and so grateful for everything. Just check yourself."
When asked why she was speaking about it now, the Wonder Woman star explained that she was ready to openly talk about it from the moment she got back to the ICU post-surgery, so as to bring more awareness to it. She was advised by her doctor, however, to get "to the other side of it" first.
"It was quite a recovery," she added. "It took me a good few months to get back to myself. Now that I'm here, yes, that's the biggest reason why I talk about it," pointing out that there wasn't enough awareness when it came to women's health, particularly regarding complications during pregnancy.
When looking back on the health scare on Instagram, Gal penned: "My daughter, Ori, was born during that moment of uncertainty and fear. Her name, meaning 'my light,' wasn't chosen by chance."
"Before the surgery, I told Jaron that when our daughter arrived, she would be the light waiting for me at the end of this tunnel," she wrote. Ori's birth was announced in March 2024, with the actress managing to keep the entire pregnancy a secret.
"Thanks to an extraordinary team of doctors at @cedarssinai and weeks of dedicated care, I made it through and began the road to recovery. Today, I am fully healed and filled with gratitude for the life I've been given back."