'Game of Thrones' star Emilia Clarke thanks "quick thinking" health care worker for saving her life

Helen Sloan/HBO(LONDON) -- After a health scare that nearly took her life in 2011, Emilia Clarke thanked health care workers for saving her life in an article published by The New York Times on Sunday.

One by one, the Game of Thrones alum, who suffered brain aneurysm after a workout in London, thanked the many hospital workers who took care of her, including, "The nurse who suggested -- after everyone else in A&E struggled to find an answer when I was first admitted -- that maybe, just maybe I should have a brain scan."

She also praised the anesthetist who had her and her family members "giggling" prior to the surgery, and the surgeon who worked to save her without ever "letting on how close to death I had been."

Clarke, 33, also thanked the people who cleaned up after her and showed, "as much kindness as if I had been their own daughter."

The actress shares details about the experience in a new book called, Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You, which honors the workers of England’s National Health Service providing care amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clarke, who resumed filming Game of Thrones six weeks after being treated for the aneurysm, suffered another brain hemorrhage two years later.

Clarke told CBS Sunday Morning in April of 2019 that her GoT role as Daenerys Targaryen and getting to "go on set, play a badass and walk through fire," helped her through the trauma.

By George Costantino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.