Game of Thrones star recounts brain surgery

The health condition of the actress made her reel under "terrible anxiety" and panic attacks.

Emilia Clarke had to undergo brain surgery twice between two seasons of Game of Thrones. The star, who plays Daenerys Targaryen in the popular series, has shared her experience about two "life-threatening" aneurysms for the first time in The New Yorker.
The health condition of the actress made her reel under "terrible anxiety" and panic attacks. She thought she would die, but her recovery has been remarkable.
It was in 2011 that Clarke first experienced aneurysm. She collapsed in the toilet after a "shooting, stabbing, constricting pain". The actress was shocked when she discovered that she was suffering from a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). After the surgery, a condition called aphasia set in, meaning she could not communicate and feared her acting career was over, says a BBC report.
"In my worst moments, I wanted to pull the plug," she revealed. "I asked the medical staff to let me die."
After having recovered enough, she continued to shoot for Season 2 of Game of Thrones. However, she felt: "I was often so woozy, so weak, that I thought I was going to die."
The second aneurysm was detected on the other side of her brain in 2013 in New York. Another surgery was done on her, which was more intrusive, and her skull had to be opened up.
"I looked as though I had been through a war more gruesome than any Daenerys experienced," said Clarke.
The star is feeling "at a hundred per cent" now and has been instrumental in developing a charity to help those hit by brain injuries.