Evangeline Lilly Reveals Brain Damage Diagnosis Months After Nasty Fall, Concussion
"Almost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity," actress tells fans of her ordeal after she fainted and fell face-first onto a boulder in May 2025
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"Almost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity," actress tells fans of her ordeal after she fainted and fell face-first onto a boulder in May 2025
January 4, 2026
Evangeline Lilly Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney
Evangeline Lilly revealed that medical tests showed she suffered brain damage following a nasty fall onto a boulder that the Lost actress endured last year.
In May, Lilly wrote that she “fainted at the beach. And fell face first into a boulder,” while also sharing photos of her bloodied and injured face from the incident; the actress added she had been prone to fainting, or “blacking out,” since childhood.
Lilly suffered a concussion following the incident, and later announced her departure from acting amid the injuries she suffered. In an update to fans on Friday, Lilly revealed the full scope of her “traumatic brain injury (tbi).”
“Verdict’s in…I do have brain damage from my tbi. Comforting to know my cognitive decline isn’t just peri-menopause, discomforting to know what an uphill battle it will be to try to reverse the deficiencies,” Lilly wrote. “Thank you all for always asking, for always caring, and for your continued prayers.”
Lilly added in a video that doctors performed brain scans on her and “almost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity.”
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“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. “But that’s okay. 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.”
Michelle Pfeiffer, who starred alongside Lilly in the Ant-Man series, shared her support in the comments of the video, “You are a warrior. Nothing-not even this will defeat you my friend.”