When Matthew Perry died last year at the age of 54, the world really lost a friend. Chandler Bing wasn’t just another character on a sitcom.
Like me, many of you must have watched ‘Friends’ many times over and each time you walk away with this “feel good” factor and a wave of nostalgia. Chandler was always my favourite character. His wit, humour, goofiness was so human.
When the news broke of Perry’s death last year, it hit hard. Our beloved Chandler was gone. As fans mourned his passing all over the world, his interviews on his struggles with addiction went viral. As he spoke with brutal honesty about his demons, I grew to respect Perry even more.
Addiction is bad enough but to speak about it so openly, took a lot of courage.
Many people were quick to judge him, others came out in solidarity. In the end, even though he spent millions of dollars trying to get sober and clean, he succumbed.
The recent arrests in Perry’s death have sent shock waves around the world and exposed the depravity of even those we consider protectors — doctors. Instead of trying to help him, the people Perry trusted the most, took advantage of him and enabled his addiction and his death.
A lonely life
This included two doctors, one of whom sold $55,000 worth of ketamine to the actor in just one month and even injected him in a parking lot one day.
He wondered “how much the moron was willing to pay” in a text message and in another message said he wanted to be Perry’s “go to for drugs”. He saw Perry freeze up after one huge ketamine shot and yet did not hesitate to give Perry’s assistant more of the same to inject him, which ultimately lead to his death at home.
As the news spread, my reaction was one of revulsion. I saw many others comment on how Perry should be blamed for demanding the ketamine and not those who just provided it. But they forget: Perry was an addict. And those who exploited him were no ordinary people.
Two of them were doctors — professionals who are supposed to save our lives, who have taken an oath of ethics. The fact is they took advantage of his weaknesses and exploited him for money with total disregard for the outcome. The other player was Perry’s own assistant, who by all accounts, was the one person Perry relied on for everything.
Not in vain
Instead of seeking an intervention for Perry, he was exploiting him too, happy to inject him with large doses of ketamine. To make things worse, all of them tried hard to cover up their crime. The only saving grace is that all these people face long prison terms, perhaps for the rest of their lives.
Perry’s death is symbolic of how difficult it can be for addicts everywhere to overcome their struggles. Perry had the money, he had the access to the best facilities and even after spending millions in rehab over the years, he still couldn’t overcome his addiction.
We all thought Chandler Bing was our friend, but clearly Matthew Perry had a difficult and very lonely life. He was in deep pain. By making his struggles public, Perry hoped he could help others. A foundation set up in his name after his death has his quote: “When I die, I want helping others to be the first thing that’s mentioned”.
Drug enforcement authorities say the arrests will help others as they have blown the cover of the nexus between doctors and dealers, and a major drug empire in Los Angeles.
At the end of the day, if even one addict is helped by Perry’s story, his death will not go in vain.
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