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Evangeline Lilly received the results of her brain scan after suffering a concussion.
“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,” Lilly, 46, said in a Friday, January 2, Instagram video. “The results came back from the scans, and I missed every area, and my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity.”
She continued, “So, I do have brain damage from the TBI, and possibly other factors going on.”
Lilly sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is defined by the Cleveland Clinic as a head injury caused by an outside force, last year.
“Now, my job is to get to the bottom of that with the doctors, and then embark on the hard work of fixing it,” the actress said on Friday. “I don’t look forward to it because I feel, like, hard work is all I do. That’s OK, my cognitive decline since I smashed my face open has helped me to slow down and helped me to have a more restful finished 2025.”
According to Lilly, the end of year featured “the most restful” holiday season she’s ever had over the years.
“That’s a good thing,” she added. “[I’m] feeling extraordinarily grateful and blessed to be able to play one more day, one more year on this beautiful living planet. That is my concussion update. Thank you all for caring.”
In the caption of her social media update, Lilly confirmed that she had been searching for medical answers for a while after her injury.
“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 on Friday. “Thank you all for always asking, for always caring, and for your continued prayers.”
As Lilly works toward recovery, she has the support of her celebrity friends.
“You are a warrior,” Michelle Pfeiffer wrote via Instagram comment. “Nothing-not even this will defeat you my friend.”
Musician Raiatea Helm, for her part, added, “Awww cousin, praying for you and the doctors. We hope to visit soon! Ke aloha nui.”
Lilly revealed in May 2025 that she sustained injuries falling “face-first into a boulder.”
“I fainted at the beach, and fell face first into a boulder,” she wrote via Instagram 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.”
Weeks later, Lilly faced a setback in her recovery process.
“Today, my concussion took a downturn. I have been up on my feet for over a week, but I overdid it this weekend,” she wrote in a June 14, 2025, social media update. “too much manual labor out in the punishing Hawaii heat. 🥵Too much in general for someone on the mend from a big head injury. So, it’s back to bed rest for a few days.”
