Kim Kardashian is Not Alone: 3 Celebrities Who Battled Brain Aneurysm, And How They Survived It

Reality superstar Kim Kardashian opened up about having a small aneurysm in her brain on the season premiere of 'The Kardashians' on Thursday, boosting the public's interest in the potentially fatal brain condition.

But aside from Kim, several celebrities have dealt with the same disease and courageously spoke out about it.

Here are some famous personalities who were diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and told the world their stories.

Emilia Clarke

British actress Emilia Clarke was busy working on the set of her massively hit HBO series 'Game of Thrones' when she learned about her aneurysm diagnosis.

The actress suffered two dangerous aneurysms in 2011 and 2013, causing major damage to her brain.

'Strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn't get blood for a second it's gone,' Clarke said in an interview with BBC's Sunday Morning in 2019. 'So the blood finds a different route to get around, but then whatever bit is missing is therefore gone.'

The actress also said that since there is a part of her brain that is no longer functioning, 'It's remarkable that I am able to speak, sometimes articulately, and live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions. I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that.'

Sharon Stone

The primary reason why the 'Basic Instinct' star Sharon Stone believed that growing older is not a bad thing is that she almost never got the chance to experience it.

In an article published by The Hollywood Reporter in 2014, the actress wrote that her goal is to grow older because she had a massive brain haemorrhage in 2001, and it almost took away her chances of reaching her goal.

'I came home from that stroke stuttering, couldn't read for two years. I was in an ICU for nine days and the survival rate for what I went through is very low. I don't need someone to make me feel bad about growing older,' Stone wrote.

She also mentioned that she worked hard to get back what she lost due to the aneurysm. She spent hours at the gym, removed gluten from her diet, and cut out alcohol from her life completely.

Neil Young

Rock legend Neil Young talked about the day he discovered his bout with an aneurysm in his memoir, which ultimately motivated him to quit drugs for the rest of his life.

He mentioned that the doctor told him that he had had an aneurysm for a while, but they needed to remove it right away. The complications that he experienced after the treatment woke him up to start living a clean, healthy life.

'The straighter I am, the more alert I am, the less I know myself and the harder it is to recognise myself. I need a little grounding in something and I am looking for it everywhere,' he explained in his memoir as posted by The Metro.

These celebrities were among the lucky few who were able to survive having a brain aneurysm.

NBC New York reported that between three per cent to five per cent of the US population has brain aneurysms, citing the American Heart Association.

While there are no recommendations for aneurysm screenings for all adults, men aged 65 to 75 and are smokers are encouraged to get screened for aortic aneurysm.