Tatum O’Neal: ‘I Overdosed and Almost Died’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Tatum O’Neal, the 59 year-old actress and Grammy Award winner, revealed that she struggled with drug abuse for many years, and in 2020 it almost took her life.
In May 2020, O’Neal suffered a stroke which left her in a coma for six weeks all due to an overdose.
O’Neal told PEOPLE, “I almost died.”
Her oldest son, Kevin McEnroe stated, “It was the phone call we’d always been waiting for.”
“She also had a cardiac arrest and a number of seizures,” he added. “There were times we didn’t think she was going to survive.”
While in the hospital, O’Neal was diagnosed with aphasia. The NIH describes aphasia as a disorder that arises after the part of the brain responsible for language is damaged.
Kevin thought “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.”
Kevin grew concerned for his mother following her stroke. With many reasons, O’Neal isolated herself from everyone.
“She had become very isolated,” Kevin stated. “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.”
Since her near fatal stroke, Kevin has seen a side of his mother he hasn’t seen but always knew was inside.
“I can’t believe I get to see that person. The person I always knew was in there,” he told PEOPLE.
Since her stroke, O’Neal has under gone various rehabilitation programs and with regular therapy she has fought hard to regain her full memory.
In addition, O’Neal attends twelve step meetings via Zoom and continues to work on her recovery while in the care of her physician.
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