NCIS star Pauley Perrette celebrates one year after surviving 'massive stroke': 'I'm still here'

Pauley Perrette has been through a lot but she is adamant, above all, that she is "still here."

In a Twitter post and video, the former NCIS star revealed she had a "massive stroke" a year ago.

"It's 9/2. One year ago I had a massive stoke. Before that I lost so many beloved family and friends, and daddy, and then Cousin Wayne," Perrette wrote. "Yet still a survivor after this traumatic life I've been given so far…And still so grateful, still so full of faith, and STILL HERE!"

Phillip Faraone/Getty for Project Angel Food

In the accompanying video, Perrette wonders, "How many times do I cheat death?," mentioning a 2014 incident when she was hospitalized after a severe allergic reaction to her character's black hair dye, a 2015 attack by an unhoused man outside her Hollywood Hills home, and that she is also "a domestic violence and a rape survivor."

"And I'm still here," she adds.

Perrette starred as forensic scientist Abby Sciuto on NCIS for 15 seasons before leaving the show in 2018. During her run on the show, Perrette's Q score, measuring a celebrity's familiarity and appeal among the public, was among the highest of any performer. But following the single season of CBS sitcom Broke in 2020, Perrette announced she was retiring from acting.

"Been through a lot in the last two years," Perrette says, ending her video. "Things that are harder than having a stroke. But I'm still here. And I'm still grateful. And thank you ... those of you who are my friends. Thank you. God bless you all. I'm still here."

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