Matthew Perry is opening up about his near-death experience.
In his forthcoming memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, the 53-year-old is reflecting on his addiction battle, which included him being in a coma for two weeks after his colon burst due to opioid overuse.
The Friends alum explained he decided to open up about his battle when he "was safe from going into the dark side of everything again."
"The doctors told my family that I had a two-percent chance to live," he told People in an article published on Oct. 20. "That's the time I really came close to my life ending. I was put on an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. Every doctor says it's a Hail Mary. No one survives that. So, the big question is why? Why was I the one that survived? There has to be some kind of reason."
After being in a coma for two weeks, Perry shared he "woke up and realized I had a colostomy bag," adding, "They said, 'It's all too messy down there. We can't do surgery. But in about a year you can reverse that.' It was pretty hellish having one because they break all the time."
Perry, who spent five months in the hospital during this time, ended up needing the colostomy bag for nine. As the Fools Rush In actor noted, his harrowing experience changed everything.
"My therapist said, 'The next time you think about taking OxyContin, just think about having a colostomy bag for the rest of your life,'" he shared. "And a little window opened, and I crawled through it, and I no longer want OxyContin."
Amid his sobriety journey, the actor shared that he is grateful to for his life today. "Everything starts with sobriety," he said. "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."
He added, "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."
