Matthew Perry is opening up about the time in 2018 when he almost died as a result of his opioid addiction. “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 told People. “There were five people put on an ECMO machine that night and the other four died and I survived.†Perry says that his family was told he had a 2 percent chance of surviving after his colon burst from opioid overuse. Besides being put on an ECMO machine, Perry had to use a colostomy bag for nine months. “My therapist said, ‘The next time you think about taking OxyContin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life,’†Perry said. “And a little window opened and I crawled through it, and I no longer want OxyContin anymore.â€
Perry is speaking about his addiction issues ahead of the publication of his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. In the book, Perry discusses being on a hit sitcom while experiencing alcohol and opioid dependencies. Perry did Friends at different levels of sobriety and says that his fellow castmates supported him through the experience: “Season nine 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.â€