In a new interview, the former 'Friends' actor opens up about his struggles while using a colostomy bag after his colon exploded amid his battle with alcohol and drug addictions.
- Oct 28, 2022
AceShowbiz - Matthew Perry often found himself covered in his faeces while using a colostomy bag. Following years of drink and drug abuse, the "Friends" actor, 53, was fitted with the device after his colon exploded in 2018, leaving him near dead.
"I had s*** all over my face, all over my body, in the bed next door. When it breaks, it breaks. You have to get nurses," he said in an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, given to the new issue of GQ magazine.
Matthew added things got worse when he was then fitted with an ileostomy bag which collects faeces. He said, "Ten times worse. You have to deal with an ileostomy bag 18, 19 times a day. A lot of suicides with an ileostomy bag. People can't take it."
Matthew added things improved when he underwent a series of surgeries for his gastrointestinal perforation, which he said "fixed things." He said he is now "very grateful" and added his body is covered in "plenty of scars" from his hospitalisations.
Matthew added about the marks, "I look at them with gratitude, because it helped me stay alive. But I have to live my life 24/7 with all of this scar tissue I'm constantly aware of. It feels like I'm doing a sit-up at full stretch all the time."
Matthew, who played Chandler Bing on the 10-season run of "Friends" from 1994 to 2004, used his colostomy bag for nine months and was given just a two percent chance of survival after spending two weeks in a coma on life support.
His upcoming memoir, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing" details his years of drug use and recovery. He said he burst into tears in hospital and was "disturbed" as he feared thought his life was over.
During one of his many rehab stints, at a facility in Switzerland, Matthew said he almost died again when his heart stopped for five minutes. He said, "This huge, strong guy leaped on top of me and did CPR, and broke eight of my ribs and saved my life."
