Comedian Fiona O’Loughlin: ‘I was given a 7% chance of living’

THE comedian has opened up about a horrifying near-death experience that landed her in a coma and close to death for four agonising weeks.

AUSTRALIAN comedian Fiona O’Loughlin has opened up about a terrifying near-death experience that left her in a coma for four weeks.

The prolific comic, who has been upfront about her battles with alcoholism in the past, told Gold104.3’s Jo & Lehmo that she’d suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from her heater — and that her “demons didn’t help” her not to pick up on what was happening.

“It went over the course of a month. I forgot things, I thought I was getting early Alzheimer’s. I was forgetting things, forgetting my kids’ names. But then I did forget I was an alcoholic.”

Eventually, the carbon monoxide poisoning almost killed O’Loughlin: She was “very, very unwell” in hospital in a month-long coma.

“I was given a 7 per cent chance of life. Guess what? I didn’t die,” she said.

Colourless and odourless, carbon monoxide is frequently referred to as a ‘silent killer’ because it can incapacitate humans without their realising. It is produced by common household appliances — heaters included — and without proper ventilation, can build up in the home. Prolonged exposure can cause brain damage and even death.

Fiona O'Loughlin: ‘I was given a 7 per cent chance of life. Guess what? I didn’t die.’ Picture: Mark Cranitch

When O’Loughlin finally emerged from her coma, her mother broke the news that she’d been so close to death.

“All my remember is my mother going, ‘Oh my god, you’re alive? Here, talk to Aunty Genevieve, she’s been praying for you.’ She threw a phone at me!”

As she recovered, the extended O’Loughlin clan couldn’t help but play a few jokes on the funniest member of the family.

“Emily and Kate, my two sisters, played the worst joke on me. I’m three days out of a coma. They were talking into their wrists, and Emily said ‘They’re microchips in our wrists. We’ve all got them.’ Kate said, ‘You know you’ve been in a coma for seven years?’ I lost my mind.”

In the same interview, O’Loughlin, whose private alcoholism became public knowledge following an onstage collapse during a 2009 comedy show, said she’d also spent time in rehab in the past few years.