Emilia Clarke speaks up for brain injury survivors, NHS, and #SaveTheArts

Last year, not long before the final season of Game of Thrones aired, Emilia Clarke revealed that, during the early seasons of the show, she suffered brain injuries that requires surgeries. It was a brave admission that she made not to garner pity or sensationalize her experience, but to raise awareness of people who were suffering, and doing it at a time when she knew people would be paying attention to her.

Ever since, Clarke has been an outspoken advocate for those suffering from brain injury and stroke. Just recently, she spoke for Brain & Life Magazine, getting the word out about her charity SameYou, which is dedicated to helping those very people:

Clarke reading a poem connects back to a charity poetry drive she started a couple months back to raise money for worthy causes during quarantine.

On top of that, Clarke recently made a contribution to the book Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You. She and other celebrities told stories about how well they’d been treated under England’s National Health Service, which ranks among the best healthcare systems in the world. In an excerpt published by The Times, Clarke thanks the anesthetist who had her and her family “giggling” before the surgery, the surgeon who operated on her without ever “letting on how close to death I had been,” the people who cleaned up after her and showed “as much kindness as if I had been their own daughter,” and “[t]he 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.”

It’s very cool to see a celebrity like Clarke using her platform this way. And this isn’t the only cause she’s getting involved in. She also raised awareness for the #SaveTheArts campaign, which encourages people to prop up the arts industry in the UK as it suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, on her Instagram page:

Fellow Game of Thrones alum John Bradley (Sam Tarly) is also doing what he can to spread the word about that:

I really hope more people take Bradley up on his challenge.

And I’m glad that people like Clarke and Bradley are using their platforms to boost worthy causes. Keep on trucking.

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