Consumed by addiction, actor Matthew Perry "nearly died" a few years ago when, at age 49, his colon burst from opioid overuse.
Perry, 53, who has battled a public addiction to drugs and alcohol over the years, discussed his health scare in an interview with People.
When he was first admitted to the hospital, "the doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live," Perry said.
The "Friends" star initially told the public he suffered a "gastrointestinal perforation," but now admits he spent two weeks in a coma and five months in the hospital and had to use a colostomy bag for nine months.
"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 said.
Perry was 24 and had just been cast in "Friends" when his dependency on prescription drugs and alcohol began. As the years progressed, so did his addiction.
"I could handle it, kind of. But by the time I was 34, I was really entrenched in a lot of trouble," he said to People. "But there were years that I was sober during that time.
"Season 9 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.'"
At one point Perry was taking up to 55 Vicodin a day and had dropped 128 pounds. He found support from cast mates who "were understanding, and they were patient."
"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," he said. "That's kind of what the cast did for me."
Perry said he has since relapsed on several occasions but doing so has made him well-versed on maintaining sobriety.
"I'm pretty healthy now," he said. "I've got to not go to the gym much more, because I don't want to only be able to play superheroes. But no, I'm a pretty healthy guy right now."
And while it is unclear how long he's been sober since last relapsing, Perry said he still counts each day.
"It's important, but if you lose your sobriety, it doesn't mean you lose all that time and education. Your sober date changes, but that's all that changes," he said. "You know everything you knew before, as long as you were able to fight your way back without dying, you learn a lot."