OMG You Guys You Will Not Believe The Secret Battle Emilia Clarke Fought Behind The Scenes
By: koalafriend
Okay listen up because the tea is piping hot and honestly we are still completely shook. We all know and bow down to Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen the literal Mother of Dragons the unburnt Khaleesi who commanded armies and walked through fire. But while she was busy becoming one of the most iconic characters in television history the actress was fighting a terrifying real life war for her own survival.
And we mean literally fighting for her life.
Just as Game of Thrones was exploding into a global phenomenon a 24 year old Emilia Clarke was facing down a life threatening brain aneurysm. Can you even imagine? One minute you are the most talked about actress on the planet and the next you are on a hospital floor wondering if this is the end.
From Khaleesi To Survivor A Terrifying Secret
It all went down in 2011 right after filming wrapped on the first season of Game of Thrones. Emilia was at the gym trying to blow off some steam when she felt a pain in her head she described as an elastic band snapping. The pressure and the blinding pain were immediate and intense. She knew something was seriously wrong.
She was rushed to the hospital where doctors diagnosed her with a subarachnoid hemorrhage a life threatening type of stroke caused by a bleeding aneurysm. An aneurysm you guys is a terrifying bulge in a blood vessel that can burst at any moment. And hers did.
Emilia needed immediate and life saving brain surgery. The aftermath was even scarier. For a week she suffered from aphasia a condition that impacts your ability to communicate. She could not remember her own name. For an actor whose entire career depends on language and memory this was a nightmare scenario. She has said she wanted to pull the plug thinking she could not live or work if she could not speak. It is absolutely heartbreaking.
The Fight Was Not Over
Somehow this absolute warrior pulled through. She had to go back to film Season 2 of Game of Thrones just weeks after brain surgery. She kept her health crisis a complete secret from the public and most of the crew fearing she would be fired or that people would see her as damaged goods. She was chugging morphine between interviews just to manage the pain all while delivering one of the most powerful performances on TV. Talk about a queen.
But her solo battle was far from over. In 2013 during a routine brain scan doctors found that another aneurysm on the other side of her brain had doubled in size and needed to be dealt with. A second surgery that was supposed to be simple went horribly wrong. The procedure failed and she woke up screaming in pain from a massive brain bleed.
This time the surgeons had to perform a much more invasive and traditional brain surgery opening up her skull to save her life. The recovery was brutal. She spent a month in the hospital and has admitted she lost hope. The procedure left her with parts of her skull replaced by titanium and scars that served as a constant reminder of her trauma.
Turning Trauma Into A Mission SameYou Is Born
So why is she spilling all this now? Because going through that harrowing experience twice and feeling so incredibly isolated in her recovery gave her a new purpose. She realized that once patients are discharged from the hospital they are often left completely alone to navigate the long and difficult road of brain injury recovery.
And that is how her incredible charity SameYou was born.
Emilia Clarke and her mother Jenny founded SameYou to completely change the game for brain injury and stroke survivors. The charity’s mission is to raise awareness and vital funds to improve post hospital rehabilitation services. It is about tackling the emotional mental and physical toll that brain injuries take long after the surgery is over.
SameYou focuses on creating a world where survivors feel they have not lost the person they were before their injury. It is about providing the essential neurorehabilitation that helps people reclaim their lives. From funding clinical research to partnering with institutions to develop better recovery programs Emilia is using her global platform to ensure no one feels as alone as she did.
Emilia Clarke is more than just a survivor she is a true hero. She walked through the fire both on screen and off and emerged stronger and with a mission to change the world. She turned her deepest pain into a global movement of hope and healing and for that she deserves all the praise. Seriously we have no choice but to stan.
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