WASHINGTON — As the new year unfolds, Evangeline Lilly, known for her work in “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” has revealed a serious personal challenge. The actress announced she has suffered brain damage from a traumatic incident that occurred in Hawaii.

On January 2, Lilly took to Instagram to share that she sustained a traumatic brain injury when she fainted and fell directly onto a boulder last May, resulting in her current condition.

In her post, she explained that medical professionals have confirmed her brain injury, describing the news as both a relief and a source of anxiety.

“The results are in… I do have brain damage from my TBI,” she wrote. “It’s comforting to know my cognitive decline isn’t solely due to perimenopause, yet unsettling to realize the challenging road ahead to address these impairments.”

In a video, Lilly said brain scans showed that “almost every area in my brain is functioning at a decreased capacity.” She said her next step is working with doctors to better understand the damage and begin treatment.

“But now my job is to get to the bottom of that with 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,” Lilly said. 

Lilly has previously spoken about a lifelong history of fainting and blackout episodes. In a May Substack essay, shortly after the incident in Hawaii, she wrote that she has experienced “absent” and fainting spells since childhood and was once diagnosed with hypoglycemia without extensive testing. She later learned her glucose levels did not align with that diagnosis, leaving the cause of her episodes unresolved.

The “Lost” actress previously announced a departure from acting in 2024.

Despite the diagnosis, Lilly said the injury has forced her to slow down and prioritize rest. She described the end of 2025 as one of the calmest holiday seasons she has had in more than a decade.

“I’m feeling extraordinarily grateful and blessed to be able to play one more day, one more year on this beautiful living planet,” she said.