Travis Barker has described cheating death as his "rehab".
Travis Barker
The Blink-182 drummer - who survived a 2008 plane crash in which his assistant Chris Baker, security guard Charles Still and two pilots died - has opened up on how the incident inspired him to live a healthier lifestyle and stop taking painkillers.
He told Men's Health magazine: "People are always like, ‘Did you go to rehab?’ 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."
The 45-year-old star - who is dating Kourtney Kardashian - hasn't been on a plane since the crash, and he instead travels by bus, car and ship.
However, he does want to overcome his fear one day, so he can come home to tell his children Landon Asher, 17, and 15-year-old Alabama Luella - whom he has with ex-wife Shanna Moakler - that he managed to do it.
He added: "If I do it, and the angels above help me in my travels and keep me safe, I would like to come back and [tell my children], ‘Hey, I just flew here, and then I flew home. And everything was fine.'
"I have to tell them, because I almost left them. That's a perfect day."
Travis explained how time and therapy have helped him heal more than a decade after the incident, and he is now able to wake up some days without thinking about the crash.
He said: "The closer I was to it, it felt like I was closer to the bad stuff than I am to the good stuff.
"I felt closer to the experience of trying to escape, [to] being in an accident and being burned, trying to grab my friends from a burning plane.
"That haunted me for a long time... And as long as I was closer to that than this good stuff, I was always thinking about that. Now it's been so many years, it's getting easier for me. There are days where I'll wake up and never think about it."
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