Emilia Clarke

She survived two brain hemorrhages. Then built a charity to fix neurorehabilitation.

At 24, Emilia Clarke had just finished filming Season 1 of Game of Thrones.

Then, her brain exploded.

Literally.

Clarke was working out at a London gym when she collapsed in the locker room.

Her head felt like it was being crushed from the inside.

A stranger found her and called an ambulance.

The diagnosis: a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a life-threatening stroke caused by a ruptured aneurysm.

She was rushed to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.

Emergency brain surgery sealed off the bleed.

But she developed aphasia.

Couldn’t remember her own name.

She asked doctors to let her die.

Her job was acting. If she couldn’t speak, what was the point?

Somehow, she survived.

She regained her speech.

She went back to set.

Then it happened again.

In 2013, doctors discovered a second aneurysm.

This one required open brain surgery.

She had a massive bleed on the operating table and had to give consent for emergency craniotomy.

Titanium replaced parts of her skull.

She woke up with a drain in her head and a wound running from her scalp to her ear.

But on-screen, no one knew.

As Daenerys, she transformed into a global icon.

Off-screen, she was having panic attacks on press tours.
She made it through 8 seasons.

She became one of the highest-paid actors on TV, earning over $1M per episode.

She starred in Me Before You, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Marvel’s Secret Invasion.

She published a comic book series.

She became the face of Clinique and Dolce & Gabbana.

And she was named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people.

Then, in 2019, she published a personal essay in The New Yorker.

For the first time, she told the full story: two near-death experiences, two brain surgeries, the cognitive trauma, and the private hell she lived through while millions watched her soar.

But she didn’t stop there.

She founded SameYou, a nonprofit that supports young people recovering from brain injuries and strokes.

Because while emergency care saved her, rehabilitation was nearly nonexistent.

Survivors were discharged with little emotional or cognitive support.

SameYou set out to change that.

It partnered with Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and University College Hospital to launch virtual neuro-recovery clinics.

It trained specialist brain injury nurses.

It funded research into long-term recovery therapies.

It collaborated with Big Issue Recruit to help survivors reenter the workforce.

And it gave a voice to 1.3M people in the UK living with the effects of brain injury.

When Clarke finally told her story, GoT fans raised over $130,000 for her non-profit.

In 2024, Clarke and her mother were both named Members of the Order of the British Empire for founding SameYou and advocating for survivors.