Emilia Clarke calls for better aftercare for brain injury survivors at London event

Emilia Clarke has offered a deeply personal reflection on her recovery from brain injuries, describing the experience as “falling off the edge of a cliff without anyone there to catch you.”

The 39-year-old Game of Thrones star, who previously survived brain aneurysms in 2011 and 2013, spoke at Variety’s Power of Women London event on Wednesday, where she highlighted the long-term challenges faced by survivors once they leave emergency medical care.

Clarke said that when she first shared her experience publicly in 2019, the response from other survivors was overwhelming, with thousands reaching out to share similar struggles.

“The journey to healing feels like falling off the edge of a cliff without anyone there to catch you,” she said, describing the isolation many patients experience during recovery.

The actress emphasized that while emergency treatment often focuses on saving lives, long-term rehabilitation and aftercare for brain injury patients remain significantly underdeveloped.

She explained that hospitals typically prioritize stopping bleeding, removing clots, and stabilizing patients before discharge, but often lack sufficient systems to address lingering physical, cognitive, emotional, and linguistic symptoms.

Clarke also raised concerns about the shortage of neuropsychologists and specialist rehabilitation services, arguing that many patients are left to cope with unresolved trauma on their own.

Comparing current understanding of brain injury recovery to past perceptions of cancer, she said the condition is still widely misunderstood and often stigmatized.

“I often compare brain injury today to where cancer was a century ago,” she noted, adding that many survivors are misjudged because their symptoms are not always visible to others.

She further explained that social expectations can make recovery even more difficult, as patients who “look fine” are often assumed to be fully recovered, even when they are not.

Clarke also stressed that rehabilitation programs are frequently too short and focused only on visible symptoms, leaving many long-term effects untreated and unrecognized.

The actress has previously spoken about her medical experiences, including in an open letter thanking NHS staff who treated her following her brain hemorrhage.

In that message, she credited medical professionals for saving her life and ensuring she was never “truly alone” during her recovery.