Emilia Clarke has paid a heartfelt tribute to nurses around the world for International Nurses Day on Wednesday.
The actress, 34, said she has ‘never been more proud’ to be an ambassador for the Royal College of Nursing in London after seeing the work healthcare staff have done throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Sharing a video message, Emilia said: ‘I’d like to wish all nursing staff a very happy international nurses day. Over the last year the dedication of nursing staff has shone through.
Message: Emilia Clarke has paid a heartfelt tribute to nurses around the world for International Nurses Day on Wednesday
‘All of us across the world have been first hand the fundamental role you play in keeping patients safe and providing vital care.
‘Today, the Royal College of Nursing is marking Nurse’s Day by putting a spotlight on the incredibly work nursing staff do.
‘Seeing and hearing about out the amazing work of nursing staff during the Covid-19 pandemic, I’ve never been more proud to be your ambassador. Thank you for everything you do and for your patience.’
The Game of Thrones star also wrote a message alongside the video, saying: ‘HAPPY NURSES DAY 2021!!!!!! @theRCN #NursesDay
Tribute: The actress, 34, said she has ‘never been more proud’ to be an ambassador for the Royal College of Nursing after seeing the work healthcare staff have done throughout the coronavirus pandemic
‘I continue to be so proud to be @thercn ambassador! Nurses across the world continue to amaze us all in their unceasing care and love for their patients during this incredibly frightening time for us all.
‘In 2021, we seek to show how nursing will look into the future as well how the profession will transform the next stage of healthcare.
‘Please join me today in celebrating all nurses everywhere for being our constant when everything around is anything but.
‘All my love to all the Nurses across the globe everyday but especially today!!’
Emilia became an ambassador for the Royal College of Nursing in 2018 to help raise the profile of the profession in the UK.
In a statement at the time, she said: ‘The vast majority of healthcare in our lifetime will come from nurses. Nevertheless, they too often fall victim to outdated ideas that leave fantastic nurses overlooked, under-appreciated and underpaid.
Emilia said: ‘I’d like to wish all nursing staff a very happy int nurses day. Over the last year the dedication of nursing staff has shone through’
‘Nurse are beginning to smash the old stereotypes and, for the first time, performing operations and running doctors’ surgeries.
‘Our NHS, and other health services around the world, simply could not function without them.’
Emilia, who portrayed Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones, experienced a health scare of her own after she suffered two brain aneurysms in 2011 and 2013.
The star only went public with her ordeal in 2019, and was devastated that she had to go through the traumatic experience while living in the public eye and also feared she would be fired from jobs.
Appearing on Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast, Emilia admitted: ‘With the first one, I couldn’t let them know what had happened until they knew that I wasn’t going to die.
‘So it took us three weeks to be like, “sorry for not answering the old emails. I’ve just been a bit, you know… I’m fine! By the way, everything’s great. I’m totally fine. I’m going to be back to work, nothing wrong’s with me. I’m all good.”‘
She added: ‘I just was, and consistently, so scared of being fired for whatever reason. So I was just like… that was just me, more than [them]. I had no idea how taken care of I was.’
Emilia wrote: ‘All my love to all the Nurses across the globe everyday but especially today!!’
Emilia previously admitted she ‘wanted to disappear’ when she suffered her second brain aneurysm.
She told Wonderland magazine: ‘I do feel like the brain haemorrhages are the literal, physical embodiment of what it is to be attacked on a social media, because I didn’t want to look anyone in the eye, and I didn’t want anyone to recognise me.
‘I wanted to disappear completely, to wipe myself off the face of the earth, because I couldn’t handle the level of interaction. Because I felt totally laid bare, totally vulnerable, totally in pain.’
And, although she was fighting for her life, the Last Christmas acterss was more concerned about who would see her in hospital than her actual health.
She explained: ‘[With] the second one, I lost a lot of hope; I lost a lot of optimism. That’s insane bad luck.
On the line? Emilia portrayed Daenerys Targaryen in the hit HBO series for the entirety of its run
‘But there I was in a f**king American hospital with drains coming out of my head, fully swollen, full of all the drugs they give you, and all I could think was, “please don’t recognise me, please don’t recognise me, please don’t recognise me.”‘
The film star also credited her mother Jennifer for being the ‘greatest support’ as she tried to recover from the ordeal while battling with aphasia [loss of speech].
She said: ‘There was also my mum, when she went into mum superpower in the hospital: I had aphasia [loss of speech], and she looked at me and went, ‘Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.’
‘She made me believe she understood exactly what I was saying. It was genuinely her greatest moment.’
Following her health battle, Emilia launched the charity SameYou, which helps raise money for people recovering from brain injuries and strokes.
Shocking: Emilia experienced a health scare of her own after she suffered two brain aneurysms in 2011 and 2013