"Friends" Star Matthew Perry Almost Died in 2018

American-Canadian actor Matthew Perry, best known for his role as Chandler Bing in “Friends”, revealed that he almost died as a result of his opioid addiction in 2018.

“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 added, noting that his family was told he had a 2% chance of surviving after his colon burst from opioid overuse.

Besides being put on the ECMO machine, the actor 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,’” he said. “And a little window opened and I crawled through it, and I no longer want OxyContin anymore.”

Perry opened up about his addiction issues ahead of the publication of his memoir; "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing".

In the book, Perry talked about 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.”