Emilia Clarke reveals the early symptoms she suffered before brain aneurysm

The Game of Thrones actress suffered two brain aneurysms while filming the show

The actor is primarily known for her role as the central character Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, the HBO television series adapted from George R.R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. After filming the first season of the now-iconic show, the young actor suffered from a medical emergency at just 24 years old, all while her career was about to take off.

Emilia first shared her story in a personal essay in The New Yorker back in 2019.

She began her story with one single heartbreaking sentence: "Just when all my childhood dreams seemed to have come true, I nearly lost my mind and then my life."

The British actor's first warning signs appeared when she was in the gym after filming the first season of Game of Thrones. She was working out with a trainer to "relieve stress" after publicity campaigns and press junkets.

What were Emilia Clarke's symptoms before her brain anyeurism?

Her first symptoms appeared in the gym's locker room, where Emilia felt a "bad headache coming on" and was so fatigued that she could barely put on her own shoes. She forced herself to attempt the workout, but her illness escalated further when she was asked to move into a plank position.

The actor wrote that it immediately felt as though an "elastic band were squeezing [her] brain".

The Me Before You star tried to ignore the pain, but couldn't, and made her way to the bathroom where she was "violently, voluminously ill."

Emilia later described the pain in The New Yorker as "shooting, stabbing, constricting pain", and stated that somehow she "knew what was happening", and knew that her "brain was damaged".

"For a few moments, I tried to will away the pain and the nausea. I said to myself, “I will not be paralysed.” I moved my fingers and toes to make sure that was true. To keep my memory alive, I tried to recall, among other things, some lines from Game of Thrones," the actor wrote.

She was rushed to hospital, and diagnosed with a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), which is a rare and life-threatening stroke, caused by bleeding into the space surrounding the brain.

The actor underwent emergency surgery, which was minimally invasive. Upon waking up, she discovered she was suffering from a condition called aphasia. This affects a person’s ability to speak and understand language and was caused by the trauma her brain had suffered. She recovered within a few weeks and was back on the set of Game of Thrones for its second season.

Two years later, in 2013, a second aneurysm had grown, and Emilia had another operation. This time, the surgery failed and caused a bleed in her brain. This required another emergency operation, this time directly through her skull.

Recovery from the second surgery was painful, and at times the Game of Thrones star had "lost all hope". But in spite of her health struggles, the actor finished her New Yorker piece by emphasising her survival and her gratitude to those who supported her.

"But I survived. I survived MTV and so much more. In the years since my second surgery, I have healed beyond my most unreasonable hopes. I am now at a hundred per cent."

Emilia Clarke has used her experience to help others and launched SameYou in 2019, a recovery charity that is dedicated to supporting brain aneurysm and injury survivors, as well as their loved ones.