Evangeline Lilly Reveals Brain Damage After Falling in Hawaii

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Evangeline Lilly is gearing up to tackle a big health challenge.

After a fall in Hawaii seven months ago caused a concussion, the actress from Lost recently learned more about the lasting effects of the injury from new brain scan results.

In a recent Instagram video posted on January 2nd, she shared some difficult news about her concussion. Brain scans revealed that most areas of her brain aren’t functioning at their full capacity, meaning she has sustained brain damage from the injury, and potentially other underlying issues as well. She mentioned this as she began the new Year of the Horse.

Evangeline explained she’s working with doctors to understand what’s going on and then figure out how to resolve it, something she’s not thrilled about. She added that it feels like all she does is work hard already.

Even though she’s facing a tough battle with her health, the 46-year-old, who has two children with her partner Norman Kali, has found at least one positive aspect to her experience.

She shared that the challenges she’s faced with her health, following a facial injury, have surprisingly led to a more relaxed pace of life. She described her recent Christmas holiday as the most peaceful she’s had in over a decade – perhaps since her children were very young – and considered that a positive development.

Evangeline shared her optimistic feelings about the new year, expressing how grateful and blessed she felt as 2026 approached.

“That is my concussion update,” she concluded. “Thank you all for caring.”

In May, Evangeline shared details about an injury on her Substack, including photos of her facial wounds. She explained she’s dealt with fainting spells since childhood due to low blood sugar. Despite the fall and its immediate effects, the actress remained optimistic.

She admitted it might sound strange considering her injured face, but she was thankful she’d lost consciousness. She explained she really needed a fresh start.

Evangeline isn’t the only celebrity who’s experienced a scary situation. Read on for more surprising accidents involving famous people…

In February 2017, Jamie Lynn Spears’ daughter, Maddie Aldridge, then eight years old, was riding an ATV near their home in Louisiana when it overturned into a pond. She was underwater for several minutes before being rescued.

Jamie Lynn shared that when rescuers finally pulled her daughter from the water and took her into their care, they feared the worst. “We thought we’d lost her,” she said on the 2020 Better Together podcast with Maria Menounos.

Although the extent of her injuries was initially unclear, Maddie regained consciousness and was able to speak within two days. She was back to her usual activities just a few weeks later.

Jamie Lynn shared that she feels incredibly fortunate to have her daughter back after a difficult time where she thought she had lost her. She expressed deep gratitude for being reunited with her.

An accident on the set of Rebel Wilson and Anna Camp’s upcoming 2025 action comedy, Bride Hard, left Rebel Wilson with a split nose. During a fight scene on her last day of filming, she was accidentally hit in the face with a prop gun. “It was a complete fluke,” Wilson told Access Hollywood in June 2025. “My nose split open, so I had to leave the set. It was my last night, and I just thought, ‘What are the chances?’”

She described being terrified when she was injured in 2023, explaining that she was covered in blood. An ambulance was called, and a plastic surgeon had to be brought in to repair the damage. Without the surgeon, she said she could have been permanently scarred, but thankfully, the stitches were so well done that you can’t even tell where the injury was.

Jimmy Fallon, the host of The Tonight Show, had a scary accident at home. He tripped and fell, and while trying to grab the counter to break his fall, his ring got caught, nearly ripping his finger off.

Doctors hospitalized him for ten days to try and save his finger after a severe ring injury, known as “ring avulsion,” threatened amputation.

In June 2025, Zane Wach, a seasoned hiker and multi-sport athlete who competes in running, swimming, and triathlons, almost succumbed to altitude sickness while hiking Mount Whitney in California with his father, Ryan Wach.

Ryan told SFGATE that the 14-year-old began having hallucinations, but was aware they weren’t real. He reported seeing things like snowmen and Kermit the Frog.

Ryan had to repeatedly stop his teenage son from walking off the cliff while they were hiking back down the trail. The father explained that his son seemed confused and disoriented, and they still haven’t figured out why. Ryan believes it was likely a combination of factors, including tiredness, lack of sleep, dehydration, and lingering altitude sickness, which caused his son to lose touch with reality.

After two failed attempts to reach Zane, Ryan watched helplessly as his son tumbled about 120 feet down a cliff. It took six hours for a search and rescue helicopter from Inyo County to arrive and transport Zane to the hospital in Lone Pine. There, he was stabilized before being moved to a specialized trauma center for children in Las Vegas. Doctors put Zane into a medically induced coma, but he eventually started breathing independently.

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve learned that life can change in an instant, and I’m hearing a heartbreaking story right now. A father, Ryan, is sharing that his teenager is facing a long road to recovery after a terrible accident – they suffered a head injury, plus breaks to their finger, ankle, and pelvis. Ryan says it’s going to be a tough journey, a real fight for survival, and right now, they’re still very much in the thick of it, navigating each day as it comes.

On New Year’s Day in 2023, actor Jeremy Renner, known for his role in Avengers, was seriously injured while helping a family member. He was using a snowplow to pull a stuck truck out of the snow at his Lake Tahoe home. After getting out of the snowplow, it began to roll and he tried to stop it from hitting his nephew, resulting in 38 broken bones.

In his 2025 memoir, My Next Breath, he described lying on the ice on New Year’s Day, his heartbeat slowing. He wrote that after manually breathing for about thirty minutes – a strenuous effort similar to doing ten to twenty push-ups every minute for half an hour – he simply grew tired and died, unbeknownst to his daughter, sisters, friends, or parents.

Despite suffering broken bones, significant blood loss, and the risk of dangerously low body temperature, he believed he had died. He recalled that paramedics found his heart rate had dropped to just 18 beats per minute, a level they considered fatal.

In May 2025, TikTok creator Emilie Kiser and her husband, Brady, experienced every parent’s nightmare when their 3-year-old son, Trigg, accidentally fell into their pool at their home in Arizona.

On May 12th, Chandler Police responded to a home after a child was found unconscious in a backyard pool. Police and firefighters immediately began CPR, and the child, later identified as Trigg, was taken to Chandler Regional Hospital. Unfortunately, Trigg passed away six days later.

Oh, it just breaks my heart thinking about Emilie. After everything, after losing him, she had to sue the county just to protect his memory and give little Theodore – can you believe he’s only two months old?! – some peace. The lawsuit said she’s doing everything she can for that sweet baby, but honestly, it sounded like every single day is just a constant struggle for her. It’s just…so unfair.

Dr. Cara Hodgson described a family trip to Thailand as “the worst 10 days” of her life after a December 2023 accident where she was shocked by power lines. She lost consciousness and was taken to the emergency room, spending the following week and a half recovering in hospitals and “fighting for my life,” as she shared in an Instagram post on New Year’s Day. She expressed immense gratitude to be alive.

Despite the discomfort, the orthodontist discovered a renewed appreciation for life. Cara explained that the experience reminded her – and all of us – of something important: “Simply being alive is a wonderful gift.” She realized how much we should cherish basic abilities like breathing, eating, speaking, and moving our bodies – they’re truly something to celebrate.

In June 2025, Brazilian tourist Juliana Marins died while hiking on Mount Rinjani, an active volcano in Indonesia. She fell from a cliff, and despite a four-day search by a team of 48 rescuers, her body was only found after being hampered by bad weather and difficult terrain, according to a statement from the Brazilian government. Thankfully, she did not fall into the volcano itself.

Juliana Marins’ family announced today that rescue teams reached her location, but sadly, she did not survive. The family expressed their deep gratitude for all the prayers, kind messages, and support received during this difficult time.

I was so shocked when I heard about what happened to Tori Spelling! Back in 2015, she was at Benihana for Easter brunch – can you imagine? – and she accidentally tripped and burned her arm on one of the hot Hibachi grills. It was a really bad burn, and she even needed skin grafts! I was really surprised to learn she decided to sue the restaurant afterward, but I can understand why – it must have been a terrible experience.

She revealed on her 2024 podcast, 9021OMG (co-hosted with Jennie Garth), that she received a skin graft from her thigh to cover a severe burn on her arm. She jokingly said, ‘Not many people can say they’re wearing their thigh on their arm,’ and explained that a thin layer of skin from her thigh was used to repair the damage.

Comedian Tony Knight tragically died in June 2024 while at the Rock&Cars festival in France. He was struck by falling branches from a tree. According to Joanne Allen, the sister of Tony’s partner Hayley Wright, he was 54 years old and enjoying life immensely. Allen described him as fit, healthy, happy, and full of potential, noting his charismatic and funny personality.

He was deeply loved and will be greatly missed. Haley shared on Instagram that he was incredibly talented and could turn his hand to anything. She remembered him as a wonderful friend, a devoted dog owner, and, above all, the center of her life, acknowledging that life will never be the same without him.

A company celebration in January 2024 turned disastrous. To begin the 25th anniversary events for Chicago software company Vistex, CEO Sanjay Shah and president Vishwanath Raju Datla were hoisted in an iron cage intended to descend 20 feet onto a platform at the party in India, according to a company representative who spoke with The Times of India. However, two cables broke, causing both men to fall onto the concrete stage.

Sanjay, age 56, died at the hospital after the accident, according to reports. Vishwanath, 52, suffered a serious head injury and sadly died several months later.

Actor Orlando Bloom revealed in a 2022 Instagram video with UNICEF that he broke his back after falling three stories from a window when he was 19. He was attempting to climb onto a building’s rooftop with friends when the drainpipe he was holding onto gave way. Despite breaking several vertebrae, he considered himself lucky because he hadn’t suffered a spinal cord injury; it remained intact.

He explained that doctors initially told him, during his first four days in the hospital, that he might never walk again. This was the start of a difficult process of realizing how certain recurring patterns in his life had contributed to a series of accidents, ultimately culminating in a broken back and a life-threatening situation.

After leaving the hospital wearing a back brace and struggling with both physical and emotional pain, he immediately started going out and partying—still wearing the brace, he told GQ in 2005. It took a couple of months for him to accept this new reality and decide he needed to make the most of it.

Honestly, hearing him talk about it just… gets me. He said it’s totally changed how he looks at everything. It’s like, he didn’t even get how fragile life was until he almost lost it all. He used to be a total speed demon – motorbikes, cars, treating every road like a race track. It wasn’t about showing off, though, it was just… he loved that feeling of being on the limit. But he says he’s calmed down now, which is good, I guess, but a little part of me misses that wild side!

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2026-01-04 04:18