Marvel and “Lost” star Evangeline Lilly reveals she has brain damage after Hawaii accident
- - Marvel and “Lost” star Evangeline Lilly reveals she has brain damage after Hawaii accident
Wesley StenzelJanuary 3, 2026 at 10:21 PM
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Evangeline Lilly in 2023Key points -
Evangeline Lilly says she suffered brain damage from a traumatic injury in Hawaii in May.
The Lost star said her brain's "decreased capacity" has helped her slow down for "a more restful finish" to 2025.
Lilly previously revealed that she fainted on the beach and "fell face-first into a boulder."
Evangeline Lilly is sharing an update on her health.
After fainting on the beach in Hawaii in May and hitting her head on a boulder, the Ant-Man and the Wasp actress announced that she sustained brain damage from the incident.
"It's late on January 1, the first day of 2026, and I'm entering into this new year, the year of the horse with some bad news about my concussion," she began in an Instagram video. "A lot of you asked how I'm doing. A lot of you have inquired about the brain scans that you heard I got."
Lilly then revealed that she experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) when she hit her head. "The results came back from the scans, and almost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity," she said. "So I do have brain damage from the TBI, and possibly other factors going on."
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Evangeline Lilly in 2023
The Lost actress added that it's up to her to make intentional efforts on the road to recovery. "Now my job is to get to the bottom of that with the 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," she said. "But that's okay."
Lilly went on to explain that the accident has forced her to relax a bit more. "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," she said. "I think this was the calmest, most restful Christmas holiday I have had maybe since I had children, so 14 years ago. So that's a good thing."
The Real Steel star closed her remarks on an optimistic note. "Feeling extraordinarily grateful and blessed to be able to play one more day and one more year on this beautiful living planet," she said. "And that is my concussion update. Thank you all for caring."
Lilly first announced the accident in a Substack post in May. "I fainted at the beach. And fell face-first into a boulder," she wrote at the time. "At the hospital, the nurses and doctor went straight into action, more determined to find the cause of my blackout than to stitch up the hole punctured into my face by the rock. I smiled wryly at them. 'You won't find anything,' I said with a woozy voice."
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Evangeline Lilly in 2023
The actress said she has experienced fainting spells since her childhood without a concrete explanation, though doctors assumed she had hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, without testing her for the condition. Eventually, however, they ruled that out after the actress underwent extensive testing as an adult.
Doctors have yet to explain where her fainting spells come from, but she has her own theory about her blacking out. "I have come to believe that this 'checking out' is a result of my little soul reaching her limit of what she feels she can cope with in this life, and she 'leaves the building,' so to speak," she wrote. "Or 'leaves the meat suit' might be a better way of putting it."
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Lilly previously announced that she was "stepping away" from Hollywood in June 2024. Her last screen performance was in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in 2023.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
