Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker says surviving a plane crash in 2008 made him kick his opioid addiction.
In a new interview with Men’s Health, the 45-year-old musician reflected on the accident that killed his assistant Chris Baker, security guard Charles “Che” Still and two pilots. Barker suffered third-degree burns on 65 percent of his body.
“People are always like, 'Did you go to rehab?’” Barker said. “And I [say], ‘No, I was in a plane crash.’ That was my 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.”
Another survivor of the crash, Barker’s friend DJ AM (aka Adam Goldstein), died from a drug overdose nearly a year later.
Barker said he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and “survivor’s guilt” after the accident and barely slept for weeks after being released from hospital.
“I was dark,” he said. “I couldn’t walk down the street. If I saw a plane [in the sky], I was determined it was going to crash, and I just didn’t want to see it.”
Barker said being burned and “trying to grab my friends from a burning plane” haunted him for a long time.
“Now it’s been so many years, it’s getting easier for me,” he said. “There are days where I’ll wake up and never think about it.”