Matthew Perry Nearly Died in 2018 From Drug Overdose, Spent 2 Weeks in Coma: “No One Survives That

Matthew Perry, aka everyone's beloved "friend" Chandler Bing, is no more with us. However, in his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, the 54-year-old revealed his near-fatal encounter with death back in 2018. He candidly spoke about his hospital stint, his struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction, and how he survived through them all. 

While promoting his book during sit-downs and other media appearances, Perry opened up about his past struggles and survival story. In 2018, when he was 49, news circulated that the Friends alum was hospitalized. The reason cited was gastrointestinal perforation. He further revealed the ups and downs of his tumultuous life.

"I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again," Perry disclosed during a cover story. "I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction," adding, "to write it all down," reported PEOPLE. He also detailed his near-death experience due to an opioid overdose, resulting in a two-week coma.

Apparently, the actor suffered a colon burst because of the overdose, which led to a five-month hospitalization and coma, and he had to use a colostomy bag for nine months. Perry recalled the details of his first time at the hospital, "The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live." 

He continued, "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." But, he did come out positive with a stronger will to fight the addiction. Even while filming the iconic show Friends, he was popping 55 Vicodin a day, and his weight dropped to an alarming 128 pounds. 

Back then, when they were shooting (at age 24), his addiction was at its inception. "I could handle it, kind of," shared Perry. "But by the time I was 34, I was really entrenched in a lot of trouble," admitting, "But there were years that I was sober during that time. Season 9 was the year that I was sober the whole way through." Following his sobriety, he was nominated for the best actor and confessed, "I was like, 'That should tell me something.'" 

However, Perry publicly acknowledged his helplessness, 'I didn't know how to stop." He continued, "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." In fact, his addiction went so far that he had to be operated on 14 times. But, for some reason, he couldn't control the urge to stay away. 

Perry shared, "My therapist said, 'The next time you think about taking Oxycontin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life," per Variety. "And a little window opened, and I crawled through it, and I no longer want Oxycontin anymore." The actor successfully overcame his addiction issues, but not long till death separated him from his "friends."

The 54-year-old was found dead in a hot tub, and the cause of death is yet to be determined by the Los Angeles County coroner's office, reported Los Angeles Times. His last post on Instagram showed him sitting in a pool under the moonlight, and the caption read, "Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I'm Mattman."