Travis Barker reveals he quit abusing prescription drugs after 2008 plane crash

Travis Barker is speaking up about the life-changing plane crash in September 2008, which he narrowly survived. In an interview posted on Monday, May 24, 2021, by Men's Health, the 45-year-old Blink-182 performer discussed coming to grips with his survivor's remorse after being among only two survivors of the accident that killed four people. He also spoke about how his companion Adam 'DJ AM' Goldstein, the other survivor, inspired him to quit taking prescription drugs after he died a year later from a prescription medication overdose. Barker revealed that people always asked him if he had been to rehab to help quit the habit but he had not. He said that he answered by saying he had almost died in a plane crash and that in itself was his rehab. “Lose three of your friends and almost die? That was my wake-up call. If I wasn't in a crash, I would have probably never quit.”

Travis Barker's plane crash helped him quit prescription drugs

Barker, Goldstein, his security officer Charles 'Che' Still, and his secretary Chris Baker mounted a private plane in South Carolina late in the evening on September 19, 2008, to return to Los Angeles after a show. The small aeroplane was trying to take off when one of its tyres blew out, leading it to override the runway, break through the airport's barrier, cross the adjacent highway, and slam into a riverbank on the side of the street. As per the Chicago Tribune, their pilot, Sarah Lemmon, as well as the co-pilot, James Bland, died minutes later from respiratory failure and injuries after the aeroplane caught on fire on a collision. Still and Baker had both been killed when the plane hit the ground. Barker and Goldstein were prepared to flee the burning plane through an exit door over the floor, but as they rolled down the flank, they both caught fire and were coated in burning jet fuel.

Goldstein managed to defuse the fire on himself before assisting Barker in putting out the fire by crushing him with his own clothes. The two survivors suffered second-and third-degree damages, necessitating skin grafts. Barker was hospitalised for three months and underwent 26 operations to treat third-degree burns that covered 65 per cent of his body. He said that it was that time that made him realise that he needed to set his priorities in life straight. Again when Goldstein died a year later from a prescription drug overdose, Travis Barker was emboldened to put a stop to his unhealthy habits.

IMAGE: TRAVIS BARKER'S INSTAGRAM