Gia Putman: 10 Surgeries After Deadly Car Crash
- Emilia Clarke, renowned for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, publicly revealed in March 2019 that she suffered two life-threatening brain aneurysms during her time...
- The first aneurysm struck in February 2011, shortly after Clarke finished filming the first season of Game of Thrones.
- While the aphasia eventually subsided, a routine brain scan in 2013 revealed that the aneurysm had doubled in size, necessitating a second, more complex surgery.
“`html
emilia Clarke’s Battle with Brain Aneurysms: A Timeline of Resilience
Table of Contents
Updated December 10, 2023, at 09:31:53 PST
What Happened?
Emilia Clarke, renowned for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, publicly revealed in March 2019 that she suffered two life-threatening brain aneurysms during her time working on the HBO series. These aneurysms required multiple surgeries and left her with lasting health challenges,including the loss of portions of her brain.
The first aneurysm struck in February 2011, shortly after Clarke finished filming the first season of Game of Thrones. She described the pain as “unbearable” and underwent immediate surgery to seal the ruptured blood vessel. following the surgery, she experienced aphasia, a language disorder affecting her ability to communicate, and found herself “muttering nonsense,” as she detailed in a personal essay published by The New Yorker in july 2019 “How I Survived Game of Thrones”.
While the aphasia eventually subsided, a routine brain scan in 2013 revealed that the aneurysm had doubled in size, necessitating a second, more complex surgery. This time, surgeons had to access her brain directly through her skull. Clarke recounts that the second procedure initially failed, leading to a massive bleed and a precarious situation where her survival was uncertain.A third surgery was ultimately successful.
Understanding Brain Aneurysms
A brain aneurysm is a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel in the brain. These can occur due to weakened blood vessel walls. If an aneurysm ruptures, it causes bleeding into the brain, known as a hemorrhagic stroke, which can lead to severe neurological damage or death. According to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation,approximately 3% of the population has an unruptured brain aneurysm.
Symptoms of an unruptured aneurysm can include localized headache, pain above and behind the eye, changes in vision, dilated pupils, and numbness or weakness on one side of the face.A ruptured aneurysm typically causes a sudden, severe headache – often described as “the worst headache of my life” – along with a stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, and loss of consciousness.
| Type of aneurysm | Description | Rupture Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Saccular (Berry) | Most common type; balloon-like bulge. | Moderate to high |
| Fusiform | Bulge affects the entire circumference of the vessel. | Lower |
| Dissecting | Caused by a tear in the artery wall. | High |
Emilia Clarke‘s Recovery and Lasting Effects
Clarke has been remarkably candid about the long-term consequences of her aneurysms. She revealed that she lost a meaningful amount of brain tissue as a result of the surgeries, leaving her with ongoing challenges.”I now have a piece of me that I’m missing,” she wrote in The New Yorker.