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In September 2008, Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker was involved in a deadly plane en route to California crash that killed four people, including the two pilots, Barker’s security guard, and his assistant. Barker himself escaped narrowly with his life, but not before obtaining severe burns on over 65 percent of his body.
Travis underwent a rigorous four month rehabilitation in a burn center and underwent 27 surgeries. Barker struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt that got so bad that medical officials had to take his phone out of his room because he was trying to bribe friends with $1 million to pull the plug and let him die.
After he was released from the hospital, Barker would self medicate through drugs and partying, a vicious cycle that was worsening medical conditions he didn’t know he had. Of those conditions was Barrett’s esophagus, a condition in which tissue in the esophagus changes to tissue resembling that of the intestines. The condition can eventually lead to a potentially fatal cancer.
In an episode of “The Doctors” which will air Wednesday, Barker said:
“[I decided to quit my prescription drugs] when the doctors had said, ‘You’re probably going to be on most of these drugs for the rest of your life because you went through such a horrific experience, and you’re dealing with bipolar disorder. You’ll probably never play drums again, you’ll never run again,’” he recalled. “Then the challenge was in my mind just to prove them wrong.”
“I literally had a joint in my hand, and [my doctor] was like, ‘Travis, this is your warning shot! Stop smoking right now,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘Like right now?’ ‘Yes, right now!’ And coffee was a big trigger for all the acid [in my esophagus]. I never even knew I had [Barrett’s esophagus].”
At 41-years-old, Barker says he’s “10 times healthier” than he was at 20. He’s drumming for up to five hours a day, and, when pressed on what gets him high nowadays, “I like running a lot. I like running, I like boxing.”
What a survivor.
[h/t Page Six]