Actress Emilia Clark, who quickly rose to fame when she played The Mother of Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen on the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, sat down with BBC One's Sunday Morning and discussed a serious medical condition she developed during the filming of the show.

Clark suffered two brain aneurysms, which would have left most people with severe motor function issues - or, in extreme cases, death. Thankfully for the 35-year-old actress, she was one of the lucky ones. She said this of her condition:

"The amount of my brain that is no longer usable - it's remarkable that I am able to speak, sometimes articulately, and live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions. I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that."

Clark added this terrifying bit,

"There's quite a bit [of brain] missing! Which always makes me laugh. Because strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn't get blood for a second, it's gone. And so the blood finds a different route to get around but then whatever bit is missing is therefore gone."

Her condition began back in 2011 when she suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage - a form of stroke from a brain bleed - which led to surgery that left her with a stint of aphasia, wherein she couldn't remember her name. She has since recovered, but eventually developed paralyzing headaches, after having had another procedure on a brain lump.

Emilia Clark has started a foundation in 2019 for others suffering from conditions such as hers, called SameYou, to help raise money and awareness for patients and their families.

Tags
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones