Emilia Clarke contributes to book thanking healthcare workers

Many people would agree that in recent months, healthcare workers have become the real heroes of the world as the coronavirus pandemic has swept the globe. But one person has always sang their praises and that would be Emilia Clarke. The actress recently cemented that sentiment with a written contribution for a new book, in which she recalls the nurses and doctors who saved her life when she fought two separate brain aneurysms.In Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You, Clarke is one of many contributors who took the time to honour the workers of England’s National Health Service in light of the pandemic. "The memories I will hold dearest, though, are ones that fill me with awe: of the nurses and doctors I knew by name when, in the weeks after my first brain hemorrhage, we watched the passing of time and the passing of patients in the Victor Horsley Ward at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, London,” she writes in her contribution, as per The Times.The 33-year-old, who suffered her first potentially life-ending aneurysm in 2011 after filming the first season of Game of Thrones, specifically thanks the nurse who suggested she should have a brain scan as workers attempted to figure out why she had collapsed at the gym. But she also gives thanks to the anesthetist who had her and her family “giggling” before she went into surgery, and to the surgeon who never let her know “how close to death” she had actually been. But her thanks don’t end there.[video_embed id='6017054774001']RELATED:  Emilia Clarke opens up about suffering brain aneurysms in 2011[/video_embed]"The countless unthanked nurses who changed my catheter and cleaned up my vomit on the days when I couldn't even manage water,” she continues. “The nurses who washed my body with care and love when I couldn't walk or sit, who put me in pyjamas I recognized as my own when my morale dipped below the surface, with as much kindness as if I had been their own daughter. The cleaners who mopped the floor when my bedpan fell to the ground, shame and embarrassment filling the room along with disinfectant, and then a reassuring smile and a knowledge that they'd seen worse."Clarke capped off the letter by thanking the nurse who let her mother stay in the hospital room with her when all of the other patients’ relatives were asked to leave. “In all those moments, over those three weeks, I was not, not ever, truly alone,” she said about her feelings of intense gratitude.This isn’t the first time Clarke has publicly expressed her thanks to health care workers. In May, she took to social media to participate in the #seeaheartsendaheart challenge, sharing a photo of herself with a heart while paying tribute to those who have been fighting to keep the world safe. “This is to all the incredible magical front line health workers the world over who have been keeping us safe during this pandemic and everyday of our lives,” she wrote at the time.

 

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❤️ #seeaheartsendaheart ❤️ This is to all the incredible magical front line health workers the world over who have been keeping us safe during this pandemic and everyday of our lives... @clinique have been doing some incredible work to say thank you and help support them! They have been donating thousands of products to local hospitals and providing financial support to global organisations. What a beautiful company I am a proud to be in their family ? Go on, let’s see your heart!! #❤️

A post shared by @ emilia_clarke on May 14, 2020 at 5:52am PDT

As Clarke previously revealed in a 2019 essay for The New Yorker, she came closer to death’s door than anyone realized in between filming seasons of the popular HBO series. “Even before we began filming Season 2, I was deeply unsure of myself. I was often so woozy, so weak, that I thought I was going to die. Staying at a hotel in London during a publicity tour, I vividly remember thinking, ‘I can’t keep up or think or breathe, much less try to be charming.’ I sipped on morphine in between interviews,” she wrote. “… If I am truly being honest, every minute of every day I thought I was going to die.”

 

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BIG NEWS FOR ALL MY DRAGON FEARING WELSH WONDERS!! Today we are launching #SameYouWales !!! ???? Tune into the @SameYouOrg Instagram livestream from 12.30pm! You’ll see what we’ve been up to and what else we got cooking for my baby @sameyouorg #? #sameyouwales #sameyoucharity #recoveryrevolution #useyourvoice #loveyourbrains #loveyourmums

A post shared by @ emilia_clarke on Nov 5, 2019 at 4:40am PST

In that same essay, Clarke, who has also starred in Last Christmas and Above Suspicion since wrapping the HBO series, revealed that she is back to feeling 100 per cent healthy. Over the past year or so since speaking out about her experiences, she’s also been a vocal advocate for others suffering through brain conditions and similar health ordeals. Last year in conjunction with the New Yorker piece she also announced the launch of her charity, Same You, an initiative aimed at helping to provide treatment to those recovering from brain injuries.[video_embed id='1986769']RELATED: The Weeknd donates $500 thousand to COVID-19 relief[/video_embed]