Gal Gadot, known worldwide for her role as Wonder Woman, faced a real-life battle of her own while pregnant with her fourth child, Ori. The actress recently revealed she underwent emergency brain surgery after discovering a “massive” blood clot during her eighth month of pregnancy.
Gadot, 39, shared her harrowing experience in an emotional Instagram post, set to be published Sunday.
“In February, during my eighth month of pregnancy, I was diagnosed with a massive blood clot in my brain,” she wrote. “For weeks, I endured excruciating headaches that confined me to bed. Finally, an MRI revealed the terrifying truth. In one moment, my family and I were confronted with the fragility of life. It was a stark reminder of how quickly everything can change.”
Within hours of her diagnosis, Gadot underwent emergency surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Despite the uncertainty and fear surrounding the situation, Ori was born safely during this critical time.
Gadot and her husband, film producer Jaron Varsano, are parents to four daughters: Alma, 13, Maya, 7, Daniella, 3, and Ori, now 9 months. Married since September 2008, the couple chose the name Ori, meaning “my light,” with deep personal significance.
“Before the surgery, I told Jaron that when our daughter arrived, she would be the light waiting for me at the end of this tunnel,” Gadot explained. “Thanks to an extraordinary team of doctors at @cedarssinai and weeks of dedicated care, I made it through and began my road to recovery. Today, I am fully healed and filled with gratitude for the life I’ve been given back.”
Gadot reflected on the lessons she learned from the ordeal, emphasizing the importance of listening to one’s body.
“Pain, discomfort, or even subtle changes often carry deeper meaning,” she wrote. “Being attuned to your body can be lifesaving.”
She also highlighted the need for awareness about cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), the condition she experienced. “I had no idea that 3 in 100,000 pregnant women in their 30s develop a blood clot in the brain. While rare, it’s treatable if identified early. Sharing this isn’t to frighten anyone but to empower. If even one person takes action for their health because of my story, it will have been worth sharing.”
Gadot first announced Ori’s birth in March, sharing a photo of herself cradling her newborn in a hospital bed. “My sweet girl, welcome,” she captioned the post. “The pregnancy was not easy, but we made it through.”
Through resilience and courage, Gadot has emerged from her health crisis with a renewed sense of gratitude, inspiring others to prioritize their well-being.
Look Closer… Vintage Photos That Were Never Edited
Few things are as satisfying as a trip down memory lane — and it’s even better when you find something you didn’t notice before. Because as Ferris Bueller said — life moves pretty fast. Here are dozens of pictures of celebrities and remarkable people of yesteryear in all their beautiful, vintage glory. The glamour, the fashions, the hair — whether classically elegant, effortlessly cool, or interestingly tacky, we shall not see their like again. Here’s to the movie stars who were larger than life, here’s to the rock stars who lived on the edge, here’s to the comedians who still make us smile, here’s to the bit players who had those moments of glory that changed their lives forever. It’s all good, it’s all groovy, and the rest is history.
Perhaps it was her Scandinavian free-spiritedness — Swedish-born actress and singer Ann-Margret seemed on call to be as sexy as necessary. Need an actress to smother Jack Nicholson with her cleavage? Ann-Margret would do it (in Carnal Knowledge, 1972). Need an actress to writhe in satin sheets and foam, then get sprayed by baked beans? Ann-Margret’s your girl (in Tommy, 1975). Need an actress to ride a large motorcycle in a thigh-high sweater dress and calf-high boots? Ann-Margret’s raring to go (in The Prophet, 1968). Need an actress who can shake her fringe top and miniskirt like a professional go-go dancer? Ann-Margret has that exact skill (in Appointment in Beirut, 1969). Need an actress you could cover in fluorescent paint and drag around a canvas like a human paintbrush while burly men in tribal garb howl and beat their bongos? That was so Ann-Margret’s thing (in The Swinger, 1966). Need an actress to wear a bra at a photo shoot on a chilly day? Not her thing, man.–Advertisment–
“Jungle Pam” Hardy, one of drag racing’s main attractions in the ’70s.
Jim Liberman was a drag racer who went by the nickname of “Jungle Jim.” He won a lot of races in the 1970s. Fans loved him for his flamboyant personality and masterful driving. But this is not a picture of Jungle Jim — this is “Jungle Pam” Hardy, Jim’s sidekick, who commanded attention at the track with her tight, skimpy outfits. She had a job to do, as Jim’s “backup girl,” she helped guide him as he drove his Chevy Vega backward on the track after a burnout. Pam joined Jim’s team in 1973, and in 1977 Jim died on an off-track car accident. Though she only did the job for four years, Jungle Pam remains the most iconic backup girl in drag racing history.
Burt Reynolds and Farrah Fawcett during filming of the 1981 comedy “The Cannonball Run.”
The 1981 road-racing comedy The Cannonball Run was packed with star power: Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Adrienne Barbeau, Mel Tillis, Terry Bradshaw, Dom DeLuise, Jackie Chan and 007 himself, Roger Moore. But you could have left all of them on the side of the road and powered to box office success with this supernaturally attractive pair of human beings: Burt Reynolds and Farrah Fawcett. He was the greatest heartthrob of the late ’70s; she had the decade’s hottest poster, and was the hottest lady detective on Charlie’s Angels, a show that was completely about conspicuously hot lady detectives. The chemistry in the movie (and this photo) wasn’t fake — Fawcett and Reynolds were romantically involved for a time.
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! You’re gonna lose! Lose! Lose! A miffed Maureen McCormick on The Brady Bunch, 1972.
Be honest — which of these three sparklers from 1983 would you have pegged to be the future governor of Minnesota? History tells us it was Jesse “the Body” Ventura (at right), and not Randy “Macho Man” Savage or the lovely Elizabeth “Miss Elizabeth” Hulette. Randy and Elizabeth would marry the following year, and she would later debut in the WWF as Macho Man’s mysterious, glamorous manager. Sadly, neither Macho Man nor Elizabeth are with us today. Ventura, who served one term as governor and has since remained a popular political figure, occasionally floats the idea of a bid for the U.S. presidency. That seems far-fetched, as American voters would never make a crass TV blowhard the leader of the free world.
Cindy Morgan as ‘Lacey Underall’ in a scene from the comedy film “Caddyshack,” 1980.
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