Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing.
Barry Keoghan has opened up on his near death experience after he ‘technically did die for a few seconds’ during his battle with substance abuse.
The A-List actor got candid about rehab, sobriety, and the toll of fame in an interview with the Friends Keep Secrets podcast with Lil Dicky and Benny Blanco on 28 April.
There, he explained the harrowing moment he died for a moment in London, what he saw on the other side, and the lesson he’s learned since being brought back to life.
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Keoghan is no stranger to trauma, and coming back from the brink, after being raised in care in Ireland after both of his parents passed away – his mother, who was 32, died of a heroin overdose.
The Saltburn actor admitted he’s now ‘allergic’ to alcohol, because his ‘reaction,’ so the speak, is to then take cocaine.
Whilst sitting on the floor with Blanco, Keoghan explained that he was 32, the same age his mum died, when he experienced a ‘sudden switch’ which turned him away from drugs and alcohol.
"I'm clean now, I've been clean for two and a half years. My mom died at 32 of heroin, my dad passed away... but the curiosity of still wanting to do this for me... It took me three attempts of rehab", he revealed.
"There was a sudden switch, and it was when I was 32, same age as my mom. I was like, that's it, I am not doing it."
This came after a near death experience left him believing his was in a physical attack, which he could feel pounding at him from the other side.
He said his vision felt like a ‘painting’.
“It was, um, it was it happened in London and you know - I went for a few seconds, and there was this this sort of image the fields and it was the wind, but there was this girl walking away,” he said.
He revealed she ‘she wouldn't look back’ as he called after her, but instead, she walked around some ‘council flats’, where he followed her and was ambushed by a group of men.
He described the scene of there being ‘loads of lads stabbing me and trying to push me over’.
However, Keoghan now recognises this feeling as the doctors desperately trying to revive him.
He said: "Obviously [that] was the doctors doing the work on me, you know, is what I was feeling. But in this vision, they were they were stabbing me and pushing me and I was holding on to them. They were trying to push me over to this side. And I swear I - you know - I was begging them that I could stay. I was like, ‘Please let me stay.’ And they were like, ‘All right, let them stay.’”
The actor, who is also a father of one, said he’s since stopped consuming any substance because he doesn’t want to die like his mother.
"I'm at peace now, and responsible for everything that I do," he said to Blanco. "I'm accepting. I'm present. I'm content. I'm a father. I'm getting to just see that haze that was once there – it's just a bit sharper now, and colourful."
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24/7, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week.
Topics: Barry Keoghan, Drugs, Celebrity
Britt Jones