Matthew Perry Reveals Opioid Abuse Put Him in a 2-Week Coma: ‘I’m Grateful to Be Alive’

“The doctors told my family that I had a 2% chance to live,” the actor said

Matthew Perry
Getty

Matthew Perry has revealed his opioid addiction became so severe that he “nearly died” four years ago at age 49 after his colon burst from abusing the drug.

Speaking with People in the lead-up to his new memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” the “Friends” star said the incident put him in a two-week coma and family was told he had a 2% chance to live. He also had to use a colostomy bag for nine months.

“The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live,” Perry said. “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.”

Perry said that when he was first cast on “Friends” at age 24, his alcohol addiction was starting to reveal itself. Though when he stayed sober, he said his career thrived.

“I could handle it, kind of,” Perry said. “But by the time I was 34, I was really entrenched in a lot of trouble. But there were years that I was sober during that time. Season 9 was the year that I was sober the whole way through. And guess which season I got nominated for best actor? I was like, ‘That should tell me something.’”

At one point during his time on “Friends,” Perry said that he was takig 55 Vicodin a day. And over time, his addiction worsened.

“I didn’t know how to stop,” he said. “If the police came over to my house and said ‘If you drink tonight, we’re going to take you to jail,’ I’d start packing. I couldn’t stop because the disease and the addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you grow older.”

The actor said that he’s been to rehab 15 times over the years and now he has maintained his sobriety. He didn’t share how long he’s currently been sober, but said that he counts each day and that the memoir came after he “was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction.”

He also shared that he’s had 14 surgeries on his stomach so far and expressed his gratitude for life.

“That’s a lot of reminders to stay sober,” Perry said. “All I have to do is look down.”

“Everything starts with sobriety,” he continued. “Because if you don’t have sobriety, you’re going to lose everything that you put in front of it, so my sobriety is right up there. I’m an extremely grateful guy. I’m grateful to be alive, that’s for sure. And that gives me the possibility to do anything.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

Comments