Aaron Tracy

Later, his mentor, Charles Marsh, died from brain inflammation from a mosquito bite.

Then Theo got a brain injury from being hit by a taxi.

Olivia died from brain inflammation from the measles.

And now Neil has had a brain aneurysm.

What on earth happened?

Dr. Carton bluntly tells Dahl not to be optimistic.

Without surgery, Neil will definitely die.

But she's unlikely to survive the surgery.

And if she does survive, she'll have severe complications for the rest of her life.

Dahl has to decide what to do.

He tells the doctor to do the surgery.

So Carton and six other doctors operate on Neil for the next seven hours.

They cut a 4x6 trapdoor in her head to remove the blood clots in her brain.

After the seven hours, the surgery is successful, which is sort of shocking, even to the doctors.

Neil will live, but they're sure she'll never be herself again.

Here's Dahl recounting it all to BBC One legend Michael Parkinson.

It really shakes me up when Dahl says, it's a vegetable, as if he has to emotionally distance himself from her by making her an object.

The family does its best to keep a low profile during this impossible time.

But Neal is only two years removed from winning Best Actress.

She's one of the most famous movie stars in the world at the height of her powers.