Matt LeBlanc heeft een emotioneel eerbetoon gebracht aan Matthew Perry – twee weken na zijn schokkende dood op 54-jarige leeftijd.

Perry werd op zaterdag 28 oktober bewusteloos aangetroffen in een bubbelbad in zijn huis in Pacific Palisades. Het Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office onthulde dat zijn doodsoorzaak ‘uitgesteld’ is, terwijl het onderzoek door de autoriteiten als ‘lopend’ wordt beschouwd.

Vriendenicoon LeBlanc, 56, die Perry’s personage Chandler Bing’s beste vriend Joey Tribbiani speelde, schreef op Instagram: ‘Matthew. Met pijn in het hart neem ik afscheid. De tijden die we samen hadden, behoren eerlijk gezegd tot de favoriete tijden van mijn leven.

‘Het was een eer om het podium met je te delen en je mijn vriend te noemen. Ik zal altijd glimlachen als ik aan je denk en ik zal je nooit vergeten. Nooit.

‘Sla je vleugels uit en vlieg, broer, je bent eindelijk vrij. Veel liefde.,

‘En ik neem aan dat je de twintig dollar die je me schuldig bent, houdt.’

LeBlanc deelde een hartverscheurende foto van de Friends-cast – bestaande uit Jennifer Aniston, 54, David Schwimmer, 57, Lisa Kudrow, 60 en Courteney Cox, 59, die Perry omhelsden tijdens de finale-opname in 2004 – een foto die eerder werd gedeeld in 2021.

Hij plaatste foto’s van Joey en Chandler die elkaar omhelsden tijdens de show.

Vorige maand brachten de vijf Friends-sterren een gezamenlijke officiële verklaring uit over het tragische overlijden van de acteur.

‘We zijn allemaal zo volkomen verwoest door het verlies van Matthew. We waren meer dan alleen castmates. Wij zijn een familie’, vertelden ze Mensen. ‘Er valt zoveel te zeggen, maar nu gaan we even de tijd nemen om te rouwen en dit ondoorgrondelijke verlies te verwerken.’

De sterren vervolgden: ‘Na verloop van tijd zullen we meer zeggen, als en wanneer we daartoe in staat zijn’, vervolgt de verklaring. ‘Voor nu zijn onze gedachten en onze liefde bij Matty’s familie, zijn vrienden en iedereen die van hem hield over de hele wereld.’

Perry werd op 3 november begraven tijdens een eenvoudige dienst van een uur op de Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles – tijdens een ceremonie die werd bijgewoond door zijn co-sterren van Friends.

Een toeschouwer vertelde aan DailyMail.com: ‘Mevrouw Aniston was een van de eersten die arriveerde. Ze hield zichzelf bij zichzelf. Dit is een spraakmakende bijeenkomst.’

Zijn betraande moeder Suzanne Morrison, 84, en Dateline-journalist-stiefvader Keith, 76, waren beiden bij het privé-evenement, net als zijn vader John Perry, 82. Keith Morrison was een van de dragers.

De begraafplaats ligt tegenover Warner Bros Studios, waar Friends tien seizoenen lang werd gefilmd, en is de laatste rustplaats van een sterrenstelsel van Hollywood-sterren, waaronder Carrie Fisher, Bette Davis, Stan Laurel, Buster Keaton, INXS-frontman Michael Hutchence, Paul Walker , Brittany Murphy en Anne Heche.

Perry stierf door een accidentele ‘verdrinking’ in zijn jacuzzi in zijn huis in Los Angeles. De politie vond in het huis voorgeschreven pillen, maar geen illegale drugs, aldus bronnen.

Perry had naar verluidt eerder op de dag een twee uur durend potje Pickleball gespeeld – een sport die lijkt op tennis, maar op een kleiner veld wordt gespeeld – voordat hij zijn assistent op pad stuurde voor een boodschap. Toen ze terugkwamen, werd Perry levenloos aangetroffen in zijn bubbelbad.

Zijn lichaam werd uren na zijn dood door het LA County Medical Examiner’s Office uit zijn huis gehaald.

Perry werd beroemd door zijn rol als ‘Chandler Bing’ in de populaire sitcom Friends uit de jaren 90, die tien seizoenen duurde.

Hij had onlangs een foto geplaatst van hem en zijn vader John Bennett Perry, die hem in 1998 vergezelde in een Friends-aflevering.

Hij werd geboren in Massachusetts en groeide op in Canada door zijn moeder Suzanne Marie nadat zijn ouders scheidden toen hij een jaar oud was.

Perry paste perfect bij de rol van Chandler, geliefd vanwege zijn sarcastische oneliners, en veel van zijn maniertjes kwamen voort uit het gedrag van de acteur zelf.

Hij zei in zijn memoires: ‘Het was alsof iemand mij een jaar lang had gevolgd, mijn grappen had gestolen, mijn maniertjes had gekopieerd, mijn wereldvermoeide maar geestige kijk op het leven had gefotokopieerd. Eén personage viel mij in het bijzonder op: het was niet zo dat ik dacht dat ik Chandler kon ‘spelen’. Ik ‘was’ Chandler.’

Perry onthulde later dat toen hij op 24-jarige leeftijd voor het eerst in de sitcom werd gecast, zijn alcoholverslaving toen echt aan het licht kwam.

Hij zei jaren later dat hij tegen het einde van de tiende serie van de hitshow ‘in veel problemen zat’.

In 2016 gaf hij toe dat hij zich drie seizoenen filmen niet kon herinneren omdat hij er ‘op dat moment een beetje uit was’.

Op een gegeven moment tijdens zijn tijd bij Friends zei Perry dat hij 55 Vicodin-pijnstillers per dag slikte en nog maar 60 kilo woog, maar toch ‘wist hij niet hoe hij moest stoppen.’

Na zijn plotselinge dood gingen velen naar de sociale media en brachten hulde aan de overleden acteur, met name voor zijn rol als Chandler in Friends.

Justin Trudeau, de premier van Canada, ging met Perry naar school toen hij in het land woonde en schreef een ontroerend bericht over hem.

‘Het overlijden van Matthew Perry is schokkend en bedroevend. Ik zal de spelletjes op het schoolplein die we vroeger speelden nooit vergeten, en ik weet dat mensen over de hele wereld nooit de vreugde zullen vergeten die hij hen bracht.

‘Bedankt voor al het lachen, Matthew. Er werd van je gehouden – en je zult gemist worden,’ zei Trudeau.

Warner Bros, producent van Friends, zei in een verklaring: ‘We zijn er kapot van door het overlijden van Matthew Perry te vernemen. Hij was een waar geschenk voor ons allemaal. Ons hart gaat uit naar zijn familie, dierbaren en al zijn fans.’

Nadat hij naar LA was verhuisd, speelde Perry de rol van Chazz Russell in Boys Will Be Boys en speelde hij ook rollen in shows, waaronder sitcom Growing Pains, voordat hij een wereldwijde superster werd als Chandler.

‘Dit was de enige man die hem speelde’, zei de maker van Friends Marta Kauffman in de reüniespecial van 2021.

De ster legde het hoogtepunt bloot van zijn vreselijke strijd tegen drugs- en alcoholverslaving, die hem bijna het leven kostte, in een memoires getiteld Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir.

Perry onthulde ook dat zijn dikke darm scheurde als gevolg van zijn opioïdenverslaving toen hij 49 was.

De artsen gaven hem slechts twee procent overlevingskans en hij lag twee weken in coma, gevolgd door nog eens maanden in het ziekenhuis.

Perry had veertien operaties nodig om alle buikschade te herstellen, en hij gaf toe dat hij in de loop der jaren vijftien keer naar de afkickkliniek was gegaan in de hoop van zijn drugsverslaving af te komen.

Maandag hebben Perry’s vijf co-sterren van Friends een gezamenlijke officiële verklaring vrijgegeven over het tragische overlijden van de acteur.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc en David Schwimmer ondertekenden allemaal de verklaring en vertelden fans dat ze diepbedroefd waren door het nieuws.

‘We zijn allemaal zo volkomen verwoest door het verlies van Matthew. We waren meer dan alleen castmates. Wij zijn een familie’, vertelden ze Mensen. ‘Er valt zoveel te zeggen, maar nu gaan we even de tijd nemen om te rouwen en dit ondoorgrondelijke verlies te verwerken.’

De sterren vervolgden: ‘Na verloop van tijd zullen we meer zeggen, als en wanneer we daartoe in staat zijn’, vervolgt de verklaring. ‘Voor nu zijn onze gedachten en onze liefde bij Matty’s familie, zijn vrienden en iedereen die van hem hield over de hele wereld.’

Perry speelde de beroemde hoofdrol als Chandler Bing in de populaire sitcom, naast Aniston als Rachel, Cox als Monica, LeBlanc als Joey, Kudrow als Phoebe en Schwimmer als Ross.

Maggie Wheeler, wiens personage met Perry dateerde van het tweede tot en met het derde seizoen van de show, was een van de eersten die publiekelijk rouwde om haar overleden costar op sociale media.

‘Wat een verlies. De wereld zal je missen, Mathew Perry,’ onderschreef ze de foto, waarop ze vol bewondering naar hem keek terwijl ze haar personage, Janice Litman-Goralnik, portretteerde.

Perry speelde ook in verschillende films, waaronder 17 Again met Zac Efron in de hoofdrol, Fools Rush In met Salma Hayek en Getting In met cabaretier Dave Chapelle.

Hij speelde in The Whole Nine Yards en The Kid met Bruce Willis, een gastrol in de zesde serie Friends.

Perry is nooit getrouwd en beëindigde zijn verloving met Molly Hurwitz, een talentmanager, in 2021.

Hij had een relatie met verschillende bekende actrices, waaronder Julia Roberts en Lizzy Caplan.

Matthew Perry is buried in a star-studded cemetery that is the final resting place of some of Hollywood’s most famous celebrities.

The Friends star was laid to rest on Friday during a private funeral service at Forest Lawn Church of the Hills in Los Angeles.

Located across from Warner Bros Studios, where Friends was filmed for ten seasons, Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery is the final resting place of a galaxy of Hollywood stars including Carrie Fisher, Bette Davis, Stan Laurel, Buster Keaton and INXS frontman Michael Hutchence and Anne Heche.

Other big celebrities include western star Lee Van Cleef, fitness guru Jack LaLane and Paul Walker from the Fast and Furious films.

There are five woodland lawns in the LA area. The first was founded by Hubert Eaton and its flat, open layout was copied numerous times by other cemeteries in the United States.

The one in Glendale is the first and oldest with classic stars like Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor and Humphrey Bogart buried there.

The Hollywood Hills branch is the hipper resting place for the modern celebrity crowd.

On Friday, at Matthew Perry’s funeral, his co-star Jennifer Aniston, 54; Lisa Kudrow, 60; Courteney Cox, 59; and David Schwimmer, 57, arrived as a quartet.

They were all dressed in black suits and somber as they prepared to say their final goodbyes to Perry at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

After the simple hour-long ceremony, they were joined outside the church by Matt LeBlanc, 56, and were pictured chatting with other well-wishers.

The service ended with a rendition of Peter Gabriel’s song ‘Don’t Give Up’ with the lyrics: ‘There’s no fight left, it seems, I’m a man whose dreams have all been abandoned, I’ve lost my face changed, I’ve changed my name, but no one wants you if you lose.’

An onlooker told DailyMail.com: ‘There was no dry eyes there. There were many tears and laughter. Only close friends and family spoke.”

After the service, Perry was buried in a dark wooden casket in a family-only ceremony.

After the ceremony, crowds of black-clad mourners stood outside the church.

Some were seen hugging and comforting each other. Many wore dark sunglasses to protect their eyes from the bright California sun.

Perry’s cause of death remains unconfirmed, but initial toxicology reports indicated there was no meth or fentanyl in his system when he drowned.

Throughout his life, Perry had been open about his struggles with drugs and alcohol.

According to a TMZ report, the usual narcotics were not found in Perry’s system during initial testing. But more in-depth testing is underway and should reveal whether the beloved actor had prescription drugs in his system.

When investigators went to Perry’s home, they found no illegal drugs, but a prescription drug that was properly labeled and kept in storage bottles.

In his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry wrote that after his colon exploded in 2018, he was prescribed opiates that he deemed insufficient to deal with his pain, prompting him to turn to street dealers to possibly supply him with fentanyl-laced OxyContin.

Matthew Perry’s Friends co-stars were seen on Friday consoling each other outside the church where the 54-year-old was laid to rest.

Jennifer Aniston, 54; Lisa Kudrow, 60; Courteney Cox, 59; and David Schwimmer, 57, arrived as a quartet – all dressed in black suits and somber as they prepared to say their last goodbyes to Perry at Forest Lawn cemetery in Los Angeles.

They were joined outside the church after the simple hour-long ceremony by Matt LeBlanc, 56, and were pictured in conversation with other well wishers. 

His tearful mother Suzanne Morrison, 84, and Dateline journalist stepfather Keith, 76, were both at the private event, as was his father John Perry, 82. Keith Morrison was one of the pallbearers.

An onlooker told DailyMail.com: ‘Ms Aniston was one of the first to arrive. She kept herself to herself. This is a high profile gathering.’

The cemetery is opposite Warner Bros Studios, where Friends was filmed for 10 seasons, and is the final resting place of a galaxy of Hollywood stars – among them Carrie Fisher, Bette Davis, Stan Laurel, Buster Keaton, INXS frontman Michael Hutchence and Anne Heche. 

The service ended with a rendition of Peter Gabriel song ‘Don’t Give Up’ which includes the lyrics: ‘No fight left or so it seems, I am a man whose dreams have all deserted, I’ve changed my face, I’ve changed my name, But no one wants you when you lose.’

An onlooker told DailyMail.com: ‘There was not a dry eye in there. There were a lot of tears and laughter. Only close friends and family spoke.’

After the service, Perry was buried in a dark wooden coffin in a family-only ceremony.

Crowds of black-clad mourners stood around outside the church after the ceremony.

Some were seen embracing and comforting each other. Many wore dark sunglasses, to shield their eyes from the bright Californian sun. 

Other stars buried in beautiful parkland include Brittany Murphy, Paul Walker, Buster Keaton, INXS rocker Michael Hutchinson and actress Anne Heche who died suddenly last year following a car accident. 

On Monday, Aniston and the rest of the cast – Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow – issued a statement describing their shock and sadness.

‘We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,’ the cast said in a joint statement on Monday. 

‘There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.

‘In time we will say more, as and when we are able. 

‘For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.’ 

Perry’s cause of death remains unconfirmed, but initial toxicology reports found that there was no meth or fentanyl in his system when he drowned.  

Throughout his life, Perry had been open about his struggles with drugs and alcohol. 

The common narcotics were not found in Perry’s system during initial tests, according to a TMZ report. But more in-depth testing is underway and would show if the beloved actor had any prescription medication in his system. 

When investigators responded to Perry’s home, they did not find any illegal drugs, but found prescription medication that was properly labeled and kept in storage bottles.

In his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry wrote that after his colon exploded in 2018, he was prescribed opiates that he deemed insufficient to deal with his pain, prompting him to turn to street dealers to supply him with potentially fentanyl-laced OxyContin. 

‘The street pills were something like $75 per pill, so I was giving the guy $3,000 at a time, many times a week,’ he wrote. 

After an initial investigation, the Los Angeles County coroner has deferred giving a cause of death, which may take weeks to determine. Those who knew him maintain that Perry was clean and sober at the time of his death. 

Perry wrote at the beginning of his million-selling memoir: ‘Hi, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.’ 

On Sunday, Perry’s book was ranked No. 1 on Amazon, supplanting Britney Spears’ memoir.

As he filmed the sitcom-hit Friends in the 90s, many people were unaware of the struggle Perry had with addiction and an intense desire to please audiences.

‘Friends was huge. I couldn’t jeopardize that. I loved the script. I loved my co-actors. I loved the scripts. I loved everything about the show but I was struggling with my addictions which only added to my sense of shame,’ he wrote in his memoir. 

‘I had a secret and no one could know.

‘I felt like I was gonna die if the live audience didn’t laugh, and that’s not healthy for sure. But I could sometimes say a line and the audience wouldn’t laugh and I would sweat and sometimes go into convulsions.’ 

Perry wrote: ‘If I didn’t get the laugh I was supposed to get I would freak out. I felt that every single night. This pressure left me in a bad place. I also knew of the six people making that show, only one of them was sick.’

He recalled in his memoir that co-star Jennifer Aniston confronted him about being inebriated while filming.

‘I know you’re drinking,’ he remembered her telling him once. 

‘We can smell it,’ she said, in what Perry called a ‘kind of weird but loving way, and the plural ‘we’ hit me like a sledgehammer.’

A fellow member of Perry’s recovery program told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview Tuesday: ‘Matty wasn’t drinking. He was a big part of our AA community. He was attending meetings, speaking at meetings and was working with a handful of newcomers.

‘He had a sponsor and was a sponsor. He seemed to be doing well.’

The insider said the actor had been focused on helping others battling addiction and had recently expressed interest in sharing his story through public speaking events.

‘Matty said he wanted to return to universities and speak about alcoholism. That was his gift. He could speak so well and motivate people,’ the source added.

‘It was important for him to reach the younger generation and spread his Don’t Give Up message. He really lived by those words.

‘He always made people laugh, even in meetings. But he was also spiritual, not religious, but spiritual. He walked the talk and knew this was his mission. To help other people, to give them hope.

‘Matty will forever be the definition of hope because he never, ever gave up. He turned his life around and helped countless people in the program. More than he could imagine.’

In an interview with DailyMail.com, the woman seen lunching with the late actor at the Bel Air Hotel the day before he died said he was so committed to sobriety, he was reluctant to order a Diet Coke due to concerns about caffeine – which can be an addictive substance.

Model and entertainment reporter Athenna Crosby, 25, also told how Perry had been full of plans for the future.

He dreamed of making an autobiographical movie about his life, with Zac Efron in the title role – while he would make a cameo appearance as a therapist.

The glamorous brunette told DailyMail.com: ‘I don’t think he had any desire to get back into drugs and alcohol.

‘I think he was so proud to finally be over that hump because he openly struggled with addiction for decades, and he was in and out of rehab as recently as the last couple of years.

‘He was relieved that he finally felt it was behind him, and he was trying to do everything to fight that.

‘While we were having lunch, he refused to touch the drink menu. He was saying that he’s gotten really into fitness and pickleball and he wants to get all his friends into it.

‘I think he was really serious about revamping himself into a whole new man.’

She added: ‘He was a little shy to order a Diet Coke because that’s caffeine, and it’s one more thing that some people might struggle with.

‘But then eventually he said, ‘I’m actually doing really good, and this is just a little treat to myself’.

‘He was concerned about anything that could compromise his health. That’s something that he took really, really seriously.’

Crosby, who met the actor ‘at the start of Fall’ after being introduced by a mutual friend, said the lunch they shared was the first they had enjoyed.

She told how Perry had invited her for a meal to discuss her career and said he gave her advice on how to handle fame and warned her to be careful with the pain meds she will get during an upcoming wisdom tooth operation – saying that those drugs were his gateway into addiction.

She told DailyMail.com: ‘That was the first lunch that I had had with him. I had met him before in person and talked to him a little bit, but that was really the first lunch that I had had with him. 

‘It’s just so crazy that he happened to pass away the next day because I did not know him that well, and I happened to be getting to know him while we were at lunch.

‘I was asking him questions about himself, and he was so open. He was such an open book telling me so many different things. It felt like I had known him for so long, and he really just made the experience very positive.

‘I thought, ‘oh, great. This is somebody that I can have in my life who is a really good person that I can trust’. And then he’s gone the next day.’

Crosby said she discovered Perry had passed away after seeing a news report, and told DailyMail.com she is devastated that he never got the chance to put his plans into action.

She said: ‘He wanted to start his foundation to help people struggling with substance abuse, whether that be alcohol or drug addiction.

‘He also really wanted to have a movie made about his life. He was an actor and he wanted to get back into it.

‘And he wanted to have Zac Efron play him, and he wanted to make a cameo of him as a counselor or a therapist, sort of giving advice to the character playing him.

‘He had a very clear idea in mind of how he was going to take this circumstance and transform it into a story and use the medium of storytelling to reach people and really use his talents for that.

‘I really hope that those closer to him and his contemporaries and the industry can make that happen.’

A private funeral was held for Matthew Perry on Friday, six days after he was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home. He was 54.

Perry’s father, John Bennett Perry, and stepfather, Keith Morrison, were spotted at Forest Lawn Church of the Hills in Los Angeles on Friday.

Located across from Warner Bros Studios, where Friends was filmed for ten seasons, the cemetery is the final resting place of a galaxy of Hollywood stars, including Carrie Fisher, Bette Davis, Stan Laurel, Buster Keaton, Michael Hutchinson and Anne Heche.

His Friends co-stars were not seen, although Jennifer Aniston’s bodyguards were seen driving from her LA home and arriving at the location.

On Monday, Aniston and the rest of the cast — Courtney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kurdow — released a statement describing their shock and sadness.

“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just castmates. We are a family,” the cast said in a joint statement on Monday.

“There is so much to say, but now we are going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.

“We will say more in due course, as soon as we are able to do so.

“For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends and everyone who loved him around the world.”

Perry’s cause of death remains unconfirmed, but initial toxicology reports indicated there was no meth or fentanyl in his system when he drowned.

Throughout his life, Perry had been open about his struggles with drugs and alcohol.

Common narcotics were not found in Perry’s system during initial testing, according to a TMZ report. But more in-depth testing is underway and should reveal whether the beloved actor had prescription drugs in his system.

When investigators went to Perry’s home, they found no illegal drugs, but did find prescription medications that were properly labeled and kept in storage bottles.

In his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry wrote that after his colon exploded in 2018, he was prescribed opiates that he deemed insufficient to deal with his pain, prompting him to turn to street dealers to possibly supply him with fentanyl-laced OxyContin.

“The street pills cost about $75 a pill, so I gave the guy $3,000 a pop, many times a week,” he wrote.

After an initial investigation, the Los Angeles County coroner has delayed issuing a cause of death, which could take weeks to determine. Those who knew him claim Perry was clean and sober at the time of his death.

Perry wrote at the beginning of his million-selling memoir: “Hello, my name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Matty. And I should be dead.”

On Sunday, Perry’s book hit No. 1 on Amazon, replacing Britney Spears’ memoir.

When he filmed the sitcom hit Friends in the 1990s, many people were unaware of Perry’s struggles with addiction and an intense desire to please the audience.

“Friends were huge. I couldn’t jeopardize that. I loved the script. I loved my fellow actors. I loved the scripts. “I loved everything about the show, but I struggled with my addictions, which only exacerbated my sense of shame,” he wrote in his memoir.

‘I had a secret and no one was allowed to know.

‘I felt like I was going to die if the live audience didn’t laugh, and that’s definitely not healthy. But sometimes I could say a line and the audience wouldn’t laugh and I would sweat and sometimes convulse.”

Perry wrote, “If I didn’t get the laughs I should have, I would panic. I felt that every night. This pressure put me in a bad place. I also knew the six people who made that show, but one of them was sick.”

He recalled in his memoir that co-star Jennifer Aniston confronted him about his drunkenness during filming.

“I know you drink,” he recalled her telling him once.

“We can smell it,” she said, in what Perry called a “kind of strange but loving way, and the plural ‘we’ hit me like a sledgehammer.”

A fellow member of Perry’s recovery program told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview on Tuesday: ‘Matty didn’t drink. He was a big part of our AA community. He attended meetings, spoke at rallies and worked with a handful of newcomers.

“He had a sponsor and was a sponsor. He seemed to be doing well.”

The insider said the actor was focused on helping others battle addiction and had recently expressed an interest in sharing his story through public speaking.

‘Matty said he wanted to go back to the universities and talk about alcoholism. That was his gift. He could speak so well and motivate people,” the source added.

“It was important for him to reach the younger generation and spread his Don’t Give Up message. He really lived by those words.

‘He always made people laugh, even during meetings. But he was also spiritual, not religious, but spiritual. He spoke and knew this was his mission. To help other people, to give them hope.

“Matty will forever be the definition of hope because he never gave up. He turned his life around and helped countless people in the program. More than he could imagine.”

Fentanyl, a powerful opioid, is currently the deadliest drug in the US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says drug overdose deaths increased more than sevenfold from 2015 to 2021.

As of 2020, more than 100,000 deaths per year have been linked to drug overdoses, and about two-thirds of those are linked to fentanyl. The death toll is more than ten times higher than in 1988, at the height of the crack epidemic.

The US has taken a slew of measures to stem the flow of fentanyl entering the country. In total, the Biden administration has imposed more than 200 sanctions related to the illegal drug trade.

State lawmakers across the country are responding to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history by imposing stricter penalties for fentanyl possession.