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Clarke, 32, who plays Mother of Dragons
Daenerys Targaryen in the medieval fantasy series, spoke of her
two brushes with death for the first time in a personal essay
for The New Yorker magazine.
Her essay was published ahead of the highly-anticipated final
season of "Game of Thrones," which has a dedicated fan
following, that premieres on cable channel HBO on April 14.
The British actress said her first brain aneurysm happened in
early 2011 at age of 24, shortly after she finished filming the
first season of "Game of Thrones". The second occurred in 2013,
after she finished filming for Season 3.
A brain aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel that can prove
fatal if it bursts.
"Just when all my childhood dreams seemed to have come true, I
nearly lost my mind and then my life," Clarke wrote in the
essay, titled "Battle for My Life."
She had brain surgery that left her with aphasia - a condition
affecting people who have suffered brain trauma that leaves them
with speech problems.
"I could see my life ahead, and it wasn't worth living," Clarke
wrote. "I am an actor; I need to remember my lines. Now I
couldn't recall my name."
Returning to film Season 2 of the show, Clarke said she was
often so woozy and weak she feared she would die. She sipped
morphine to make it through press interviews.
In 2013, a second, more extensive surgery, resulted in a
one-month hospital stay marked by panic attacks and a loss of
hope.
"Going through this experience for the second time, all hope
receded... I do remember being convinced that I wasn't going to
live," she wrote.
Clarke said she was now completely healthy and had decided to
throw herself into SameYou, a charity for brain injury survivors
she helped develop.
"There is something gratifying, and beyond lucky, about coming
to the end of 'Thrones,'" she wrote. "I’m so happy to be here to
see the end of this story and the beginning of whatever comes
next."
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Nick Carey)
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