Tatum O'Neal reveals her near-fatal 2020 drug overdose led to a stroke and 6-week coma

Oscar-winning Paper Moon actress Tatum O'Neal has opened up about a terrifying health scare that nearly killed her.

"I almost died," the 59-year-old actress told PEOPLE in an interview published Wednesday, revealing that a drug overdose gave her a stroke and put her in a six-week coma in May 2020.

The incident occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, after O'Neal — who's long been candid about her relationship with drugs — began abusing medications prescribed to her for back and neck pain and rheumatoid arthritis. She was rushed to a hospital in California after a friend found her inside her Century City apartment, where she'd overdosed on a mixture of the pain medication, opiates, and morphine.

As a result, O'Neal was diagnosed with aphasia — a brain-damage disorder that can impact language skills and that has progressed into dementia for actor Bruce Willis — while she recovered at the hospital.

Kevin McEnroe, the eldest of O'Neal's three children with tennis icon John McEnroe, added that his mother experienced "cardiac arrest and a number of seizures" following the overdose. "There were times we didn't think she was going to survive," he said, later adding: "At times, it was touch and go. I had to call my brother and sister and say she was thought to be blind, deaf, and potentially might never speak again."

Jesse Grant/Getty Tatum O'Neal

McEnroe speculated that his mother "had become very isolated" during the coronavirus outbreak. "With the addition of morphine and heavier pharmaceuticals, it was getting scary. COVID, chronic pain, all these things led to a place of isolation. In that place, I don't think, for her, there was much hope."

O'Neal also spoke about how her drug addiction has affected her over the years, as she has been to several rehabilitation facilities after her strength, memory, and ability to read and write were impacted by substance abuse. "I've been through a lot," she said.

Since the 2020 overdose, O'Neal has been under close medical supervision and attends daily therapy to help with her memory.

"I've been trying to get sober my whole life," O'Neal said. "Every day, I am trying."

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• Tatum O'Neal on her biggest roles

• Love Story originally had a horrible theme song called 'Jenny's Dead'

• Rosie O'Donnell says Madonna is 'good,' 'very strong,' and 'recovering at home' after hospitalization