Matthew Perry’s sister Mia Perry Bowick has recalled the terrifying moment she feared she would lose the Friends star after he suffered a life-threatening medical emergency in 2018. In Episode 3 of Netflix’s documentary The One About Matthew Perry, Mia opens up about his ruptured colon, the severe infection that followed and the weeks he spent in a coma. She also remembers the moment her brother woke up and broke down after learning what had happened to him.
Recalling how she learnt about the medical emergency, Matthew Perry’s sister Mia Perry Bowick said she received a call from an unfamiliar number in Los Angeles. The situation was chaotic, and his sober companion warned her that things were serious.
“His sober companion at the time was like, ‘This is really bad. I don’t know what’s gonna happen.’ She said they just whisked him away to surgery, and I don’t know what’s going on,” she recalled.
Mia said the phone was then handed to a doctor, and she told the medical team to do whatever was necessary to keep her brother alive.
“I was like, ‘Do whatever you need, do whatever to keep him alive.’ They were like, ‘Okay,’ and hung up,” she said.
Recalling her arrival at the hospital, Matthew’s sister described the moment she saw him in the ICU and feared he would not survive.
“I went into the ICU where Matthew had been brought by the ambulance. This is the exact same ICU that I had checked out of after giving birth about six weeks earlier. I am covered in milk and spit, so postpartum and just staring at him in the bed. And it was the first time I had seen him where I went like, ‘This is it. He is not waking up,’” she said.
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Matthew Perry’s colon ruptured, causing severe sepsis
Doctors explained to the family that Matthew Perry’s colon had ruptured in several places, causing severe sepsis throughout his body. His condition was critical, and they could not say whether he would survive.
At that point, doctors decided to transfer him to UCLA. While Matthew was in a coma, his sister said she visited him every day.
Multiple surgeries were performed in an attempt to repair his colon. Doctors eventually decided to place him on an ECMO machine, which provides life support by temporarily taking over the work of the heart and lungs.
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Matthew Perry’s sister recalled that the actor’s fingertips began turning black, raising concerns that he could lose his fingers if he remained on the machine for too long.
The doctors also realised that Matthew was going into drug withdrawal. His sister explained that opioids can dramatically slow down the digestive tract, which contributed to the rupture.
“And it was like a slap in the face, like, of course this has to do with that,” she said, recalling her reaction when she understood the connection between his addiction and the medical crisis.
Mia Perry admitted that she was angry with herself for having been in denial, even briefly, about the severity of his addiction. She was also angry with Matthew Perry, particularly because she had recently become a mother and had expected him to be there as an uncle.
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“‘You did this to yourself, man. Like, I just had a baby. You were supposed to be an uncle right now,’” she recalled thinking.
The family had experienced other frightening episodes during Matthew’s struggles with addiction, including overdoses and a car accident. But she said this was the first time that those around him genuinely did not know whether he would survive.
Matthew Perry woke up after two weeks in a coma
After around two weeks, Matthew Perry began showing signs of waking up. His sister Mia Perry recalled that he eventually spoke to her, saying, “Hey, sister.”
She replied, “Hey, brother, how you doing?”
Matthew was initially too weak to speak much. When he eventually asked what had happened, she explained the entire ordeal to him.
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“He just quietly closed his eyes and he started crying,” she said.
Matthew Perry remained in hospital for three months. Even after returning home, he was in poor health and needed extensive care. Mia Perry said he had a large, open wound in his abdomen that had not fully healed and needed a colostomy bag. He was unable to walk and required round-the-clock nurses and sober companions.
“He aged 20 years in three months,” she said.
Matthew’s friend David Pressman also spoke about the severity of the medical emergency. “A lot of people thought that we might not see Matthew again,” he said.
Matthew Perry recalls being given a 2% chance of survival
The documentary also features archival interview footage of Matthew Perry talking about the medical emergency and how close he came to dying.
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“I never wanted to die, but I did so many drugs at certain times that I knew it could kill me. I was given a 2 percent chance to survive the night. They put me on an ECMO machine, and five people were on ECMO that night. The other four died, and I somehow made it,” Matthew said.
The actor had previously spoken about his near-fatal health crisis in interviews and in his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. He described how serious his condition had become and the long road to recovery that followed.
In a 2022 interview with People, Matthew Perry said he had spent five months in hospital and used a colostomy bag for nine months. He also revealed that he had undergone 14 surgeries on his stomach by that point.
Matthew Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, died on October 28, 2023, at the age of 54. The Los Angeles County medical examiner determined that the acute effects of ketamine were the primary cause of his death, with drowning and other factors also listed.
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Netflix’s The One About Matthew Perry revisits his life, his struggles with addiction and the impact they had on his family and friends.