One Year Post Stroke, Former ‘NCIS’ Star Pauley Perrette Declares ‘I’m Still Here!’

On September 2, 2021, former NCIS star Pauley Perrette suffered from a massive stroke that nearly killed her.

During the 17 years in which she was on the acting scene, Perrette endured a lot, and recounts how grateful and blessed she is to still be alive.

Perette is no stranger to cheating death. She was hospitalized in 2014 after suffering from a severe allergic reaction to her NCIS character’s black hair dye and was attacked by an unhoused man outside of her home in Hollywood Hills in 2015. She is also a rape and domestic violence survivor.

In the past two years, Perrette has experienced so much heartache and hurt.

“Before my stroke, I lost so many beloved family and friends, and daddy, and then Cousin Wayne. Yet still a survivor after this traumatic life I’ve been given so far and still so grateful, still so full of faith, and STILL HERE,” Perrette wrote in her commemorative one-year post-stroke tweet.

On NCIS, Perrette portrayed Abby Sciuto, a forensic scientist. During for her 15-season run, her Q score, measuring a celebrity’s familiarity and appeal with the public, was among the highest of any performer at the time.

Following NCIS, Perrette filmed one season of the CBS sitcom Broke in 2020 before announcing her retirement from acting.

“I’ve been through a lot in the past two years, things that are harder than having a stroke. But I’m still here and I’m still grateful,” she said.