Evangeline Lilly says she was diagnosed with brain damage months after falling at the beach
Marvel franchise actress Evangeline Lilly says she is suffering from the effects of head trauma after a fall months ago in Hawaii.
In a video posted to Instagram, Lilly told her followers that she recently learned through scans that “almost every area of my brain is operating at a reduced capacity.” She wrote in the caption that it was “comforting” to know that the symptoms she was experiencing weren’t due to perimenopause like she had apparently believed.
The next step is to start working with doctors to resolve the problem, said Lilly, who starred in the ABC television series “Lost” before signing on for the Marvel films.
“My cognitive decline since smashing my face has helped me slow down and finish my 2025 in a more restful way,” Lilly said. “I think it was the quietest, most relaxing Christmas vacation I’ve had, maybe since I had kids, so 14 years ago.”
Lilly’s injury stems from a May incident in which she passed out on the beach and “fell face-first into a rock,” as she described in a Substack essay at the time. The “Ant-Man and the Wasp” star wrote that she went to the hospital right afterward, where her tests came back normal.
Medical staff at the time were more concerned about the cause of his “fainting” than the injury to his face, according to Lilly’s account of the incident.
“I’ve had absence seizures and fainting spells since I was little,” Lilly wrote. “Doctors examined me for epilepsy when I was young and then ruled it hypoglycemia (without doing any testing).”
Hypoglycemia was ruled out later in life, Lilly said, adding that there was still no explanation for the fainting spells and they would remain an “unknown” in life.
She also said the fall “forced” her to stay still after a turbulent period in her life.
“It may seem crazy to see my face and my broken tooth, but I feel so grateful that I passed out,” Lilly wrote. “I needed a reset.”
