Actress Evangeline Lilly says she has brain damage after traumatic fall in Hawaii

Actress Evangeline Lilly said she is beginning the new year with a serious health challenge after learning she has brain damage following a traumatic accident in Hawaii.

The “Ant-Man and the Wasp” star revealed in a Jan. 2 Instagram post that she suffered a traumatic brain injury after fainting and falling face-first onto a boulder last May.

In the caption, Lilly said doctors confirmed she has brain damage and described the diagnosis as both validating and daunting.

“Verdict’s in… I do have brain damage from my tbi,” she wrote. “Comforting to know my cognitive decline isn’t just perimenopause, discomforting to know what an uphill battle it will be to try to reverse the deficiencies.”

In a video, Lilly said brain scans showed that “almost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity.” She said her next step is working with doctors to better understand the damage and begin treatment.

“But 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’t look forward to because I feel like hard work is all I do," Lilly said.

Lilly has previously spoken about a lifelong history of fainting and blackout episodes. In a May Substack essay, shortly after the incident in Hawaii, she wrote that she has experienced “absent” and fainting spells since childhood and was once diagnosed with hypoglycemia without extensive testing. She later learned her glucose levels did not align with that diagnosis, leaving the cause of her episodes unresolved.

The "Lost" actress previously announced a departure from acting in 2024.

Despite the diagnosis, Lilly said the injury has forced her to slow down and prioritize rest. She described the end of 2025 as one of the calmest holiday seasons she has had in more than a decade.

“I’m feeling extraordinarily grateful and blessed to be able to play one more day, one more year on this beautiful living planet,” she said.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/nation-world/evangeline-lilly-brain-damage/507-32a4336e-8711-4002-b308-3563b26bf834?ref=exit-recirc

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5817408&forum_id=2Ã#49563222)