Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa feared he 'nearly lost' Emilia Clarke after aneurysms

The actor praised Clarke's bravery in an emotional red carpet interview
Best friends: Jason Momoa and Emilia Clarke
Frazer Harrison/Getty
Emma Powell4 April 2019
The Weekender

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Jason Momoa gave an emotional interview as he opened up about ‘nearly losing’ his friend and former co-star Emilia Clarke.

Momoa, who played Clarke’s onscreen husband Khal Drogo to her Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, praised her bravery after she suffered two life-threatening aneurysms.

Clarke opened up about the ordeals earlier this week in an essay for the New Yorker in which she said there were moments when she wanted to “pull the plug”.

She was 24 when she suffered her first subarachnoid haemorrhage in 2011 before undergoing surgery for a second in 2013.

Close: Emilia Clarke as Daenerys alongside Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo
HBO

Speaking at the Game of Thrones season eight premiere, Momoa told Entertainment Tonight: “I’ve kind of been a part of that whole situation for a very long time, so we’ve had so many scares.

“I’m very sad, because we almost lost her the first time. I love her to bits and she’s here and she’s going to do great things with it and teach the world.”

Brave: Emilia Clarke on the red carpet for the season eight premiere of Game of Thrones
Getty Images

Clarke launched her own charity, SameYou, last month to raise funds to treat those recovering from brain injury and stroke.

Momoa said: “I just think it’s beautiful that... she’s so brave in helping the world and trying to raise awareness.”

Clarke was put in the recovery position after working out with a personal trainer in 2011 before being rushed to hospital to undergo surgery at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen’s Square. She was in ICU for four days.

Due to aphasia – a consequence of brain trauma – Clarke struggled to recall her own name and admits to begging the staff to “let her die”.

“In my worst moments, I wanted to pull the plug,” she wrote. “I asked the medical staff to let me die,” she wrote. “My job—my entire dream of what my life would be—centred on language, on communication. Without that, I was lost.”

Clarke joined Momoa and a host of past and current Game of Thrones stars for the premiere at the Rockefeller Center in New York where the Iron Throne took centre stage.

In pictures | Game of Thrones Premiere

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