Recovering from third-degree burns that cover the majority of one’s skin is an intensely painful and timely process. According to Men’s Health, Travis Barker was hospitalized for three months after his tragic plane crash in September 2008. After 26 surgeries and many skin graft procedures, Barker was on the road to recovery, but he still had to undergo therapy and re-learn both how to walk and how to play the drums.
After his discharge, according to Salon, Barker refused the heavy-duty pain medications doctors had prescribed, so as to maintain his sobriety. “I couldn’t imagine putting another one of those pills in my body, but they had me on other prescriptions. At some point, I flushed all those down the toilet because I didn’t like what they were doing.” Those pills, per Billboard: bipolar medications, to help curb suicidal thoughts and impulses because his burn recovery was so extraordinarily agonizing. “I was waking up during surgeries and overhearing doctors talking about amputating my foot,” Barker told Vice. He asked his Transplants bandmate Rob Aston to arrange his death. “I would call Skinhead Rob all the time and tell him, ‘Rob, get one of the homies I don’t know to get in here and smoke me, I can’t do this anymore.”
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
