How Friends star Matthew Perry cheated death many times over the years
Beloved Friends actor Matthew Perry sadly died on Saturday, October 28 at his Los Angeles home.
The 54-year-old was found unresponsive in his hot tub by his assistant who had just returned from an errand when he raised the alarm bells.
The Emmy-nominated actor was extremely open about his past struggles with drug and alcohol issues. Writing in his 2022 memoir, Perry revealed that at one point he was hospitalised in a coma for a week and given just a 2% chance of survival.
READ MORE: Friends star Matthew Perry's heartbreaking premonition about his own death months before he died
At the age of 49, Perry revealed that his colon exploded from opioid overuse. He was in a coma for a week and he had to use a colostomy bag for nine months following the near-death experience and had undergone a total of 14 surgeries on his stomach.
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He was also hooked up to an ECMO machine, which essentially acts as a heartbeat and breathing machine.
Perry's addiction issues started in his 20s (NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
He was very open about his struggles (Getty Images)According to People magazine, Perry used this near-death experience as a motivation to get sober. “My therapist said, ‘The next time you think about taking OxyContin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life. And a little window opened, and I crawled through it, and I no longer want OxyContin.”
Another near-death incident occurred in 2020 during one of his rehab stays. PageSix reports that the actor's heart stopped beating for five minutes after doctors administered propofol which interacted badly with the hydrocodone in his system.
CPR was administered and ultimately saved his life but it also broke eight ribs which meant he could no longer film Don't Look Up with Meryl Streep.
Perry's long-time drug and alcohol use left him with multiple near brushes with death. Perry spoke about how he first tasted alcohol at the age of 14. An opioid addiction began following a jet ski incident while filming the 1997 film Fools Rush In.
Looking back at one point during Friends' 10-year run, Matthew recalled taking 55 Vicodin a day and his weight dropping down to 128 pounds but yet he 'didn't know how to stop'. "The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that's called a Hail Mary. No one survives that," Matthew began when sharing his story in 2022, going on to explain how he waited to go public with his experience until he was 'safe' from ever going to a 'dark place' again.
"I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction — to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people," he added, speaking shortly before the release of his memoir, Friends, Lovers and The Big Terrible Thing.
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