Chad Michael Murray Recalls His Scary Experience With Twisted Intestines At 15

Published on November 4, 2019.

One Tree Hill alum, Chad Michael Murray, nearly faced a medical dilemma at the age of 15 when his doctors failed to realize that the star was bleeding internally.

The actor opened up about the experience when he visited the SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show on Tuesday, where he explained how his twisted intestines caused blood to build-up in his abdomen.

“They didn’t know what was wrong,” Murray told Jess Cagle.

At 15, Murray played football in high school, and the actor’s physique made it difficult for doctors to come up with a proper diagnosis.

“This sounds so stupid — and trust me, I’m not on an ego trip when I say this — but because I was in physical good condition, my abdomen was tight and when I started bleeding internally, my stomach didn’t expand,” he said.

“Basically, my abs kept it flat so the doctors couldn’t tell I was bleeding,” added Murray. “They saw my red and white blood cells dropping but they didn’t know where it was going.”

“I almost died,” continued Murray. “They had a priest at the end of my bed. I remember, it was the only time I ever saw my dad cry — well, one of two times.”

Thanks to an on-duty nurse, Murray was able to recover.

“[She] saved my life that night,” he said. “Her name was Sandy, I’ll never forget her, we took her chocolates for years after until she moved hospitals. But she got four units of blood and saved my life that night, against the grain. She just did it. She locked the door, gave me four units of blood, and saved my life.”

This event impacted Murray’s life greatly that it helped the star purse acting.

“Along the way, I forgot why I did it. And one morning, when I was 25, I woke up and I changed my perspective,” said Murray to the talk show. “The one thing that really saved me from that moment in life where I missed Christmas and I missed New Years was television and film. … These movies and television would be on and I would be like, ‘I want to do that man. I want to give people something to smile about. That’s what I want to do. I want to entertain so people can stop worrying about the mundane aspects of life.’ Maybe you’re going through something tough, I want to pull you out of it for two hours.”

“That’s why I became an actor in life and I remembered that,” he added. “I’m just having fun and trying to remember to do those things. Because that’s what it’s about, entertaining. It’s not about anything else for me but putting out good love and good energy in the world through my family, god, and my work.”

“I’m just super blessed to do what I do, I love my job,” expressed Murray.

This holiday season, Murray is starring in the brand-new Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas film Write Before Christmas alongside his former One Tree Hill costar Torrey DeVitto.