Emilia Clarke has compared recovery from a brain injury to “falling off the edge of a cliff without anyone there to catch you”.
Emilia Clarke speaks at Power of Women London event
The 39-year-old actress has been open about suffering brain aneurysms in 2011 and 2013, and now she has reflected on how difficult it is for survivors of the terrifying health scares.
Speaking at Variety’s Power of Women London event on Wednesday (03.06.26), she said: “When I finally shared my story in 2019, we were overwhelmed by the response.
“Mostly young people reached out to tell us their own stories. Today we have tens of thousands of survivors in our community saying essentially the same thing
“The journey to healing feels like falling off the edge of a cliff without anyone there to catch you.”
The Game of Thrones star explained that treatments around brain injuries needs to improve, particularly with aftercare.
She said: “What usually happens when you’re rushed to hospital with a brain injury is that doctors do everything possible to save your life.
“They stop the bleeding, remove the clot, find the source, cut it out, stitch you up, and send you home.
“But what many people don’t realise is that whatever symptoms remain — physical, cognitive, emotional, linguistic — the consequence is unresolved trauma.
“And there are simply too few neuropsychologists and specialist rehabilitation services for that reality to change without a major shift in priorities.”
Emilia compared the current outlook on brain injuries “to where cancer was a century ago” in terms of how people approach the rehab.
She added: “When everyone around you thinks you look fine, they treat you as though you are. Eventually, you start believing you should be too.
“I often compare brain injury today to where cancer was a century ago: misunderstood, stigmatised and hidden from view.
“When rehabilitation is available, it’s usually measured in weeks rather than years and focused on only the most visible symptoms.
“Brain injury recovery is still in its infancy, leading to lost potential, lost livelihoods and too many people falling through the cracks.”
Emilia previously sent her thanks to Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) workers who “saved [her] life” after she suffered a brain haemorrhage.
The London-born star wrote an open letter to the NHS to mark the institution’s 72nd anniversary, thanking the staff who made sure she was never “truly alone”.
In the lengthy message, she wrote: “The memories I will hold dearest, though, are ones that fill me with awe: of the nurses and doctors I knew by name when, in the weeks after my first brain haemorrhage, we watched the passing of time and the passing of patients in the Victor Horsley Ward at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, London.
“The nurse who suggested – after everyone else in A and E struggled to find an answer when I was first admitted – that maybe, just maybe I should have a brain scan. She saved my life.”
