DJ AM Says He Was 'Saved For A Reason' after plane crash

Oct 15 2008 1:46 PM EDT

DJ AM Says He Was 'Saved For A Reason' In First Post-Crash Interview'I can't believe I made it,' he tells People magazine.
By James Montgomery


DJ AM considers himself "blessed" to have survived the September 19 plane crash that left him and Travis Barker with second- and third-degree burns and killed four others, including Barker's assistant, Chris Baker, and bodyguard Charles Still.

In his first interview since the crash, AM told People magazine that during his recovery, he grew closer to God and that he now believes he was saved "for a reason."

"I've prayed every night for the past 10 years. There's a lot more to thank God for now. My philosophy is 'live life to the fullest,' [and] I was saved for a reason," he told the magazine. "Maybe I'm going to help someone else. I don't question it. All I know is, I'm thankful I'm still here."

(Click for People Magazine's first post-crash photos of DJ AM.)

He also said that while he's grateful to be alive, he's wrestled with guilt, knowing that four people didn't survive the crash.

"My emotions go back and forth," he said. "At the first hospital, I screamed, 'Thank you!' Then I wondered, 'Why did I live?' I can't believe I made it. Any second, it can all be gone."
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http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1597103/20081015/dj_am.jhtml

Why does someone die? I've asked myself this question most of my life. I survived too many times and wondered why I did. Last week I began to ask why my brother died at the age of 56, and again, Tuesday at his funeral. I doubt I will ever know the answers anymore than I will ever know why some veterans survive combat but cannot survive in peace.

We will only understand when God allows us to. For most of us, that day will come when our souls return to Him. Others will be blessed on this earth to discover that they survived to serve others in offering hope, help, stretching out a hand with compassion and understanding. Most of the chaplains I know suffered in their lives, took that pain and reached out to others knowing what it felt like. Almost every person I know working on PTSD has either lived with it or came into contact with someone who touched their lives. We have "skin in the game" and it is far more than a casual observation.

While I was away with my family for my brother's funeral, I didn't watch much TV or read. I was out of contact with what was going on in the world. I didn't know who died of a non-combat death, who committed suicide or anything else that normally I would have been focused on like a lazar. It was stunning to me to understand how so many can be so oblivious to the suffering and trumps of others. They just focus on their own lives, needs, wants and their own trials, unable and unwilling to see any of what we see.

People who read my blog are focused on all of this. We share what we learn in order to find answers through news across the nation and the world. Ask a neighbor if they heard of the suicide of Chris Dana or how his death touched the lives of so many in the Montana National Guard that they came up with their own program to save lives, and they won't have a clue. Ask them if they heard the news about any of the others and they will be shocked. What they are most shocked about is that the government failed to take care of them. It was too easy to assume the government is taking care of all those who serve.

DJ Am, thinks his live was saved for a reason and he plans on doing something about it. Think about your own life and what you can do to make a difference. The beginning is reading blogs like mine. The rest is in your hands. Make sure that when you have the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life, you take it right then and there without trying to find excuses to not do it.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.namguardianangel.org/

http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington