Matthew Perry nearly died of a drug overdose

Matthew Perry, who plays Chandler Bing on ‘Friends,’ confirmed to ‘People’ magazine that he narrowly escaped an early death at age 49 in 2018 after an overdose of painkillers caused his colon to rupture.

The news circulating at the time was that the ‘Friends’ actor was hospitalized with a perforated stomach and intestines.

In fact, Perry’s hospitalization was much more severe. He was in a coma for two weeks, spent five months in the hospital, and had to use an ostomy bag for nine months.

“The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance of surviving,” he said, referring to his first admission, “and I was placed on a machine called ECMO, which does all the breathing for your heart and lungs.”