Evangeline Lilly has revealed she has brain damage, months after she suffered a concussion when she fainted and fell face-first into a boulder.<\/p>\n
The 46-year-old Canadian actor, known for her roles in Lost, The Hobbit films and the Marvel<\/a> Cinematic Universe, shared the \u201cbad news\u201d video on her Instagram, one of many updates she has shared since she suffered the traumatic brain injury (TBI) in May, when she fainted on a beach and hit her head on a rock.<\/p>\n Lilly said in the video that a recent brain scan had revealed that \u201calmost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I do have brain damage from the TBI and possibly other factors going on,\u201d she said. \u201cBut now my job is to get to the bottom of that with doctors and then embark on the hard work of fixing it, which I don\u2019t look forward to because I feel like hard work is all I do.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s OK. My cognitive decline since I smashed my face open has helped me to slow down and helped me to have a more restful finish to my 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n Allow Instagram content?<\/p>\n This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In the caption, she said she found it \u201ccomforting to know my cognitive decline isn\u2019t just perimenopause, discomforting to know what an uphill battle it will be to try to reverse the deficiencies\u201d.<\/p>\n Her Marvel costar, the actor Michelle Pfeiffer, wrote: \u201cYou are a warrior. Nothing \u2013 not even this will defeat you my friend.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time of the accident, <\/a>Lilly shared photos of her bloodied face post-injury<\/a> and described what had happened on Substack. \u201cI pull my face from the sand and take a breath. My mouth and nose are full of blood,\u201d she wrote. \u201cMy partner says that when I black out, I look like I die. He gets very afraid. My eyes roll back in my head and all life leaves my body.\u201d<\/p>\n She explained how she had experienced fainting spells since she was a child, with doctors initially believing it was due to hypoglycemia, which was later ruled out.<\/p>\n \u201cI have come to believe that this \u2018checking out\u2019 is a result of my little soul reaching her limit of what she feels she can cope with in this life, and she \u2018leaves the building,\u2019 so to speak,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n But she also shared her gratitude, writing: \u201cIt might seem crazy looking at my face and my busted tooth, but I feel so grateful that I blacked out. I needed the reset.\u201d<\/p>\n