Emilia Clarke reflects on ability to speak despite losing to two brain aneurysms
Emilia Clarke and her fight with brain aneurysms
Emilia Clarke disclosed that “quite a bit” of her brain no longer functions about ten years after undergoing surgery for two ruptured aneurysms. In a recent interview, the actor termed her full recovery after recurrent episodes of internal bleeding “remarkable.”
In an appearance on BBC Sunday Morning this week, Clarke, discussed the life-threatening health issues she encountered in her mid-twenties. In 2011, and again in 2013, Clarke was hospitalised due to fatal cerebral haemorrhages.
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“It was the most excruciating pain.”
In an interview with the BBC Clarke spoke of a horrible headache that struck her out of nowhere when she was working out in February 2011, shortly after wrapping up production for the first season of “Game of Thrones.” Early detection of the rupture and immediate medical attention allowed Clarke to resume work a few weeks later, but two years later, she experienced additional severe aneurysm problems.
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Furthermore she said, “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,” Clarke said. “I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.”
Haemorrhage and recovery for Emilia Clarke
Moreover, she remarked that following the second haemorrhage, while making a full recovery, some areas of her brain were rendered permanently unavailable. After her initial surgery, a regular brain scan revealed the aneurysm, a bulging blood vessel that might rupture and cause a stroke. By 2013, the aneurysm had expanded to the point where doctors advised another surgery to cure it. But that operation increased bleeding, necessitating yet another, more intrusive surgery.
“There’s quite a bit missing, which always makes me laugh,” Clarke said, speaking about her brain. “Strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn’t get blood for a second, it’s gone. So, the blood finds a different route to get around, but then whatever bit is missing is therefore gone.”
“With the second one, there was a bit of my brain that actually died,” Clarke said, adding, “If a part of your brain doesn’t get blood to it for a minute, it will just no longer work. It’s like you short circuit.”
The procedure, according to Clarke at the time, left her with “a deep paranoia” about whether it would end her acting career. She did, however, go on to star in numerous extra seasons of “Game of Thrones” in addition to other films.
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