Oscar-winning actor Tatum O'Neal is sharing details about her harrowing journey of a drug overdose and subsequent stroke, which resulted in a six-week coma at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I almost died," she told People. "I've been through a lot."
During the lockdown, O'Neal, 59, was navigating feelings of isolation while also dealing with neck pain and arthritis.
Then, in May 2020, she overdosed on pain medications, including opioids and morphine. A friend discovered her and took her to the hospital.
Now O'Neal's family has revealed the challenging conditions of the pandemic that left her feeling more vulnerable.
"She had become very isolated," her son, Kevin McEnroe, 37, told People. "With the addition of the 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."
The time spent in the hospital was tough for everyone involved.
O'Neal's children, including daughter Emily, 32, and son Sean, 35, were unable to visit her, for the most part. Further, O'Neal's health was fragile and it was uncertain if she would survive.
"She also had a cardiac arrest and a number of seizures," McEnroe said. "There were times we didn't think she was going to survive."
O'Neal was in a coma and experienced "damage to her right frontal cortex," McEnroe added.
Doctors determined that O'Neal had developed aphasia, a condition that impairs the capacity to read, write, and communicate due to brain damage.
"At times, it was touch and go," McEnroe said. "I had to call my brother and sister and say she was thought to be blind, deaf, and potentially might never speak again."
O'Neal struggled to talk when she first awoke from the coma.
"She didn't know where she was," McEnroe said. "She couldn't say, 'I'm scared.'"
O'Neal has since made significant strides. Through therapy, she is focused on improving her memory and expanding her vocabulary. Additionally, she attends 12-step meetings to tackle the root causes that initially drove her to substance abuse.
"Every day I am trying," she said. "I want to be with my beautiful three kids."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.