In A Now-Resurfaced Video, Matthew Perry Revealed The Startling Moment His Heart Stopped For Five Minutes

Following his passing, footage came to light that captures Matthew Perry’s memory of his heart stopping for five minutes.

The Friends actor, who was promoting his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing, last year, thought back on a lot of his life events in a number of interviews.

In his autobiography, Perry candidly discussed how years of excessive substance misuse had left him with major physical problems and that he was fortunate to still be alive in his 50s.

During an appearance with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Perry revealed how a medical fear led to his withdrawal from the post-apocalyptic black comedy on Netflix, Don’t Look Up, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio.

In his memoir, Perry stated that landing the part would have been the “biggest movie [he’d] gotten ever,” but he was compelled to withdraw following his ordeal at a Swiss treatment facility.

Perry informed his doctors there that he was having stomach pain and that a procedure was on the schedule.

Propofol, a common anesthetic, was given to Perry in the operating room; however, this caused the actor’s heart to stop.

It seems that the propofol caused my heart to stop. for half an hour. Nothing had been pounding, but it wasn’t a heart attack—I didn’t collapse,” he stated in his memoir.

“I was told that a burly Swiss man performed CPR on me for five minutes, thumping and pounding my chest, because he didn’t want the guy from Friends to die on his table.

“Would he have stopped after three minutes if I hadn’t been watching Friends? Has Friends saved my life once more?

@gma
#MatthewPerry speaks exclusively to Diane Sawyer on success, fame and struggle with addiction. The actor, who details his struggle and sobriety journey in his new book, recalls his ‘Friends’ co-stars reaching out to him about his drinking. Watch the full ‘20/20’ special tonight at 8/7c on @abcnetwork. And stream it on @hulu. #abcnews #goodmorningamerica #jenniferaniston #friendstvshow #sobriety #dianesawyer
♬ original sound – Good Morning America

In his interview with Colbert, Perry described the incident in more detail, claiming that the guy performing the life-saving CPR shattered eight of his ribs in the process.

He claimed he only remembered waking up in a different hospital ten hours later and had no memories of the time when his heart stopped beating.

Perry lost the “amazing” chance to star in Don’t Look Up, where he was supposed to play a Republican journalist and film four scenes with Meryl Streep, due to the situation.

On October 28, less than five years after his scare at the Swiss facility, Perry passed dead at home in Los Angeles.

In his hot tub, the actor was discovered unconscious. According to law enforcement officials, no drugs were found at the location.

In A Now-Resurfaced Video, Matthew Perry Revealed The Startling Moment His Heart Stopped For Five Minutes

Following his passing, footage came to light that captures Matthew Perry’s memory of his heart stopping for five minutes.

During an appearance with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Perry revealed how a medical fear led to his withdrawal from the post-apocalyptic black comedy on Netflix, Don’t Look Up, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio.

It seems that the propofol caused my heart to stop. for half an hour. Nothing had been pounding, but it wasn’t a heart attack—I didn’t collapse,” he stated in his memoir.

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