TRAVIS OVERCOMES FLYING FEAR
HOW THE REALITY STAR GAVE THE DRUMMER THE COURAGE TO OVERCOME HIS GREATEST FEAR
On August 14, Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker hugged and held hands after arriving around an hour late to California’s Camarillo Airport. Kourtney’s mother Kris Jenner and her boyfriend Corey Gamble were already waiting onboard Kylie Jenner’s 22-seat private plane ahead of a family trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. “Travis took his time and definitely seemed a little bit nervous,” an eyewitness told E! News. “Kourtney was very supportive and helped him every step of the way. She made him feel comfortable.”
The trip marks the first time Barker, 45, has stepped foot on a plane since he survived a deadly 2008 plane crash, which killed four people. “Kourtney has been very supportive. She never pushed for him to fly,” a source told WHO’s sister publication People magazine. “They have managed to travel in the US without having to fly and Kourtney has been totally fine with it.”
Since they began dating in January, the pair have peppered their relationship with plenty of romantic getaways, including travelling to Las Vegas to catch a UFC fight, skiing in Park City, Utah, and spending time poolside with their families in Montecito, California. With the support of Kardashian, 42, Barker has found the strength to take that next step. “It’s a huge deal that Travis flew,” continued the People source. “The plane crash many years ago was extremely traumatising. He has needed a lot of help to get to this point.”
Though he escaped alive, Barker wasn’t unscathed from the horror accident (see box). He suffered third-degree burns on more than half of his body and underwent over 20 surgeries and multiple skin grafts. Additionally, he’s battled suicidal thoughts, PTSD and survivor’s guilt, especially after his friend and the crash’s only other survivor Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM, died of a drug overdose in 2009. That trauma pushed the drummer to become sober.
“People are always like, ‘Did you go to rehab?’” Barker told Men’s Health in an interview published in May. “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.”
In the same interview, he also opened up about how he’s finally coming to terms with the life-altering event. “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,” he said. “There’s a million things that could happen to me. I could die riding my skateboard. I could get in a car accident. I could get shot. Anything could happen. I could have a brain aneurysm and die. So why should I still be afraid of aeroplanes?”
The mum-of-three has been key to his healing. “She’s helped him overcome this fear and he feels like he can do anything with her by his side,” says the E! source. Barker, who is dad to Landon, 17, and Alabama, 15, and stepdaughter Atiana
De La Hoya, 22, is ready for a fear-free next chapter with friends predicting an engagement is on the cards. “I have all the love I need in my house,” he told Men’s Health. “It will never make sense why my friends are gone, or the pilots, but all I can do is carry on. I can’t regret anything. I’m 100 per cent supposed to be here.”
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“She helped him every step of the way” SOURCE