Matthew Perry reveals he almost died after his colon burst from drug overuse: 'I didn't know how to stop'

Matthew Perry's struggles with opioids nearly cost him his life.

The actor reveals in the latest issue of People that he nearly died several years ago, at the age of 49 in 2018, after his colon burst due to an overuse of drugs. The revelation is also shared in his memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing (out Nov. 1), which takes readers behind the scenes of his time on the hit 1994 sitcom Friends as Chandler Bing and his struggles with addiction.

Perry, now 53, spent two months in a coma and five months in the hospital to recover. He also had to use a colostomy bag for nine months. "The doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live," he told PEOPLE in this week's cover story. "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."

Steven Ferdman/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images Matthew Perry reveals he almost died after his colon burst from drug overuse

His troubles with alcohol began when he was first cast in Friends in the early '90s, at the age of 24. "I could handle it, kind of. But by the time I was 34, I was really entrenched in a lot of trouble," Perry said. "But there were years that I was sober during that time." The sitcom's penultimate season 9, circa 2002, "was the year that I was sober the whole way through," Perry said. "And guess which season I got nominated for best actor? I was like, 'That should tell me something.'"

At one of his lowest points, the actor — who has long been vocal about his addiction troubles during his time on the sitcom — took 55 Vicodins a day and weighed 128 pounds. "I didn't know how to stop," Perry said. "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. I couldn't stop because the disease and the addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you grow older."

Costars Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc were understanding and patient with him, Perry shared. "It's like penguins. Penguins, in nature, when one is sick, or when one is very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up. They walk around it until that penguin can walk on its own. That's kind of what the cast did for me."

Everett Collection Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, and Courteney Cox on 'Friends'

Perry, who has entered rehab about 15 times, said he's "pretty healthy now," sharing that he is determined to help others battling the same demons. He's also just grateful to be alive. "I wanted to share when I was safe from going into the dark side of everything again," Perry said. "I had to wait until I was pretty safely sober — and away from the active disease of alcoholism and addiction — to write it all down. And the main thing was, I was pretty certain that it would help people."

Perry is most beloved for his role as the sarcastic Chandler Bing in Friends, which he starred in throughout all 10 seasons. He recently reunited with his costars for HBO Max's 2021 reunion special. Perry's most recent TV credits include The Odd Couple, The Good Fight, and The Kennedys After Camelot.

Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing hits bookshelves Nov. 1.

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