Tatum O’Neal overdosed so severely just over three years ago that she experienced a nearly fatal stroke and lapsed into a six-week coma.
She questioned occasionally whether she would ever be able to speak. The 59-year-old actress claims, “I woke up from a coma, without any words.
In this week’s issue of PEOPLE, she describes her remarkable — and ongoing — road to recovery. O’Neal claims that while he was unconscious, it was unclear whether he would survive or pass away. I survived, too. ” .
With regular speech therapy, O’Neal, who was identified as having aphasia (a brain injury that affects both spoken and written language), is now working to regain her entire vocabulary and learn to read again.
O’Neal, the daughter of actor Ryan O’Neal, 82, and his first wife Joanna Moore (who passed away in 1997), recalls that when she first awoke from her coma, “the first thing I thought about was my mother.”. “However, I had no idea where I was. How to think. I also couldn’t speak.
Nothing.
”.
Her 37-year-old eldest son Kevin McEnroe claims that she was unable to express her fear.
Sometimes he and his younger siblings, Sean McEnroe, 35, and Emily McEnroe, 32, from their mother’s turbulent marriage to tennis champion John McEnroe, weren’t sure what her quality of life would be — when, or if — she woke up.
Kevin says, “I was concerned that she might be like a vegetable. And what are we going to do? ” Then, I received a call from the healthcare facility informing me that she had escaped. I also recall being relieved to learn that Tatum was still alive. I reasoned that since she was still inside, we could survive. ” .
“That might not have been the typical response,” Kevin continues. But I simply believed that she was overcoming some of this by being a fighter. ”.
Tatum wasn’t certain then.
I’ll admit it, I kept wanting to leave.
Daughter Emily continues, “The doctors didn’t think she would be able to speak, see, or walk three and a half years ago. She is an amazing survivor. ”.
The three children of their mom have been affected for a lifetime by her decades-long battle with drug addiction, which has resulted in an endless cycle of rehabs, recovery, and relapse. Together, they have grown closer in support of her healing, and they want to share their story to inspire others. We’re all on this journey together, says Emily, as she observes her current motivation to maintain sobriety.
“Avoiding a forward or backward movement that is excessive.
It only requires trying. There is no finish line, but we can share in the suffering, happiness, annoyance, and love—along with everything in between. She is fortunate to be alive.
”.
O’Neal keeps working on maintaining her recently acquired sobriety. “Stop using drugs. None more pills. I don’t want to use anymore,” declares O’Neal, who attends daily (or more) twelve-step meetings and uses a suboxone patch to treat his opioid addiction. “I’m working really hard on staying sober. I only consider the present day. ” .
Sean McEnroe, her son, is astounded by her tenacity as his siblings are. “What got me through this more than anything was to trust that there’s something deeper involved here,” he says.
“Of all the countless ways she could have developed after this, for her to have this extraordinary spirit is like — if you don’t believe in God, I don’t know how you cannot now because this is the biggest miracle I have ever seen. She has the impression that the cosmos protected and loved her. ”.
