Adam ‘DJ AM’ Goldstein is thanking his lucky stars after he escaped the plane crash that left four others dead earlier this month.

Goldstein and former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker were the only survivors after the Learjet they were passengers on failed to clear a runway in South Carolina and burst into flames. Four passengers died in the crash, including Barker’s assistant Chris Baker.

Goldstein, Nicole Richie’s DJ ex, returned to Los Angeles last weekend (20Sep08), and is currently resting and recovering from severe burns.

And he has made his feelings about his survival clear in a status update on social networking site Facebook.com.

Writing on his profile on Friday (26Sep08), he says, “Adam Goldstein is the luckiest guy alive.”

Goldstein’s representative Jenni Weinman released a statement on Friday thanking fans for all the well wishes.

Barker, who was also badly burned in the crash, is still being treated at hospital in Georgia.

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A week after surviving a plane crash that took the lives of four people, DJ AM has been released from Doctors Hospital in August, Georgia, his rep said Friday.

“While he is deeply saddened by the events he is thankful for all of the love and support he has been receiving from fans and friends world wide,” the rep said. “We ask that you continue respect his privacy as he rests and heals and mourns the loss of his friends.”

The 35-year-old, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, was being treated at the hospital’s Joseph Still Burn Center for second- and third-degree burns.

Actress Mandy Moore, his ex, was seen buying a get well gift for him at Mr. Ballon and Cookies by Design in West Hollywood on Thursday.

Moore had flown to Georgia to be by AM’s side as he and Travis Barker, the sole survivors of the small jet crash in South Carolina Friday night, were treated for burns. Both are expected to make full recoveries.

“It was divine intervention that they got out,” Lt. Jason Shumpert of the South Congaree Police Department told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “They should be commended for being able to get out and keep their heads together.”

The pilot and co-pilot died of smoke inhalation and burns while Barker and AM’s pals Chris Baker and Charles Still died of impact-related injuries.

Barker’s ex-wife Shanna Moakler, with whom he’s back together, said of the accident: “Our lives will be changed forever.”

Shumpert described the scene after the fiery plane hit an embankment upon takeoff in Columbia, South Carolina. He said Barker was screaming from second- and third-degree burns.

“They said the plane went down,” Shumpert recalled. “They didn’t say how or if they knew. Once it went down, they were able to slide down the wing of the plane, and they jumped on each other to put fires on each other out and rolled around on the ground.”

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board have not determined the cause of the crash but the Learjet’s black box indicated the crew knew one of the plane’s tires had blown.

For details on Barker and AM’s recovery and how they survived the crash, check out the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.

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How did Travis Barker and DJ AM (real name: Adam Goldstein) survive the plane crash that killed four people and left them with second- and third-degree burns?

“[Travis and Adam] told me that they slid down the wing on the right side of the plane,” Lieut. Josh Shumpert of the South Congaree Police Department tells PEOPLE. Shumpert was one of the second responders at the scene – Congaree is the town outside of Columbia, S.C. – after the airport police arrived.

“They said they were on fire,” adds Shumpert, whose patrol car’s dashboard camera caught video of the fiery aftermath, “and that they tackled each other and put each other out.”

“When I got there they were on the side of the road,” says Shumpert. “They were pacing and in shock.”

“Travis was very shaken up,” he says, noting that Barker was given Gatorade after he asked for some water.

According to the lieutenant, the pair weren’t naked, contrary to eyewitness statements.

“Travis was wearing some kind of shorts and no shirt,” says Shumpert, adding that Goldstein was wearing shorts or boxers as well. “Travis had one sock on. And a black hat on his head.”

The fast reactions of the former Blink 182 drummer Barker, 32, and Goldstein, 35, gave them a good chance of a full recovery.

“Since both Barker and Goldstein are in overall good health and didn’t suffer from any other crash-related complications, a full recovery is expected,” said Dr. Fred Mullins of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors’ Hospital in Augusta at a Sunday morning press conference.

Mullins added that recovery from such burns can take as long as a year.

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While Travis Barker and DJ AM were critically injured in a plane crash Friday night, it cost the lives of two crew members and two other passengers.

A coroner in South Carolina, where the crash of the Learjet occurred, has determined that the pilot and co-pilot died from smoke inhalation and burns while the two passengers were killed by impact-related injuries.

Barker, the former drummer for Blink 182, and DJ AM, suffered second and third degree burns from the incident but are expected to make full recoveries. Barker has burns on his torso and lower body and DJ AM has burns on his arm and part of his head.

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There is promising long-range news in the medical condition of air-tragedy victims Travis Barker and DJ AM.

The medical director of the Georgia burn center where the two are being treated after their escape from a fiery plane crash around midnight Friday said Sunday morning that both critically injured men are expected to make full recoveries.

Dr. Fred Mullins of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors’ Hospital in Augusta said at a press conference that former Blink 182 drummer Barker, 32, and DJ Am (real name: Adam Goldstein), 35, are being treated for second- and third-degree burns.

Mullins says recovery from such burns can take as long as a year but says that the men suffered no other injuries, adding: “Since both Barker and Goldstein are in overall good health and didn’t suffer from any other crash-related complications, a full recovery is expected.”

As for a timeline, though he said recovery could require a year, Mullins also noted, “I would expect it would be much sooner than that.”

Mullins says Barker was burned on his torso and lower body, while DJ AM, was burned on his arms and a portion of his head. The doctor described both as remaining in critical but stable condition and in the intensive-care unit of the hospital.

Regarding their emotional state, he declined to discuss specifics, but said of burn victims that “45 percent of all patients have some emotional trouble.”

Families Ask for Privacy
There were six people on the plane, and the other four perished. They were pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif.; co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif.; security guard Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles; and Barker’s assistant Chris Baker, 29, also of Los Angeles.

On Saturday, the mother of Barker’s ex-wife Shanna Moakler told PEOPLE that her daughter was on her way to Georgia to be at Barker’s side. Sources tell People that Moakler was seen at the hospital later that day.

Dr. Mullins also said at the press conference Sunday: “The families wish to thank fans from all over the world for their prayers and concern. Deepest sympathy is expressed to the loved ones of those who perished in the crash. As the two recuperate and mourn this loss, privacy for them their families and friends is requested at this time.”

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WENN

Travis Barker’s former mother-in-law, Gail Moakler, tells PEOPLE, “We’re totally crushed,” but that Shanna Moakler has rushed to be with her ex, while DJ AM’s sister, Lara, and her husband, Benjamin Long, learned the news of the plane crash – in which Barker and DJ AM were badly burned and four others were killed – from a phone call from AM’s mother on Saturday morning.

“We’re in shock,” Benjamin Long told PEOPLE. “Nobody expects something like this. We’re waiting to hear more.”

Moakler, whose daughter Shanna was married to Barker, tells PEOPLE, “Our heart pours out. We’re hoping he recovers. The family is rallying around him and saying our prayers.”

Both Barker, 32, and DJ AM (real name: Adam Michael Goldstein), 35, were taken to a burn center in Augusta, Georgia, about 75 miles southwest of the Columbia, S.C., crash site. Both are listed in critical condition.

Four others on the plane were killed: pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, Calif.; co-pilot James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, Calif.; security guard Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles; and Barker’s assistant Chris Baker, 29, also of Los Angeles.

Children Not Told
Upon hearing the news of the crash, “Shanna flew out this morning, and I am going to L.A. to be with the children so that she can devote time to Travis,” Gail Moakler tells PEOPLE.

Former Playboy Playmate Shanna Moakler, 33, was married to Barker from 2004 until earlier this year. They have two children: son Landon, 4, and daughter Alabama, 2.

“There’s still love between them,” says Gail Moakler. “They may be divorced, but they’re still very close. She spends a lot of time with him. Their priorities are their kids.”

The youngsters have yet to be told about the incident. “We’re waiting a bit to see what God brings,” says their grandmother, who adds, “Shanna spoke to Travis last night. He was defiant after the accident and didn’t want to be lifted in a helicopter, but rather an ambulance, so they had to knock him out.”

“The whole thing is crazy,” said Benjamin Long. “We’re thankful that he made it. And we feel horrible about those who didn’t. It’s just awful.”

He added that his bother-in-law is a survivor. “He flies all the time,” says Long. “A lot of people know his story. He’s pulled through a lot of things in the past.”

The Learjet carrying six people that crashed after midnight Friday was just over one year old and chartered from Global Executive Aviation in Long Beach, Calif., according to Columbia Metropolitan Airport spokesperson Lynne Douglas,

“The crash was the result of an overrun on its flight to Van Nuys [Calif.],” says Douglas, who attended a National Transportation Safety Board press conference Saturday afternoon in Columbia. “The NTSB is gathering information and fact finding to learn what happened in this tragedy.”

A statement was also issued by the Pure Management Group’s vice-president of entertainment, Michael Greco. It said, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to both Adam and Travis. The PMG family is deeply saddened by the news of this unfortunate event and we wish Adam and Travis a speedy recovery and send our sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones.”

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In February’s Glamour, DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) says that his father’s verbal abuse was so bad it led to his drug addiction.

“I grew up in Philadelphia with a father who seemed to hate me: The verbal abuse he subjected me to was unbelievably cruel,” he says.

(He says he would later learn his father was gay and addicted to drugs. “If my family went out to dinner, my father would hit on the [male] waiter right in front of my mom,” DJ AM recalls. “Finally she’d had enough and kicked him out.”)

But DJ AM says he blamed himself for the abuse. “To deal with my anger and sadness, I ate,” he says. “By the time I was 10, I was obese.”

He says people began referring to him as “’the fat kid from Philly.’ I spent the next two years doing drugs every day, until I went to my mom and actually asked her to send me to rehab.”

But the treatment center — which specialized in “tough love,” DJ AM recalls — “was an abusive house of horrors that would eventually be shut down. The counselors beat us. They spit in our faces. They starved us,” he tells Glamour.

“When I left rehab, I’d learned nothing about recovery—I attended a few meetings, but within five months I was back doing drugs. Then my father died. Eventually, my mom kicked me out of her house.”

At that time, he says his “main source of income was stealing cash and drugs from drug dealers.

“All along, I hated myself for being overweight. I used to stand in front of my mirror, holding rolls of flesh in my hands, wishing I could cut it off with a knife. Every time I walked into a room I thought people were saying, ‘There’s the fat guy.’”

By 20, he began “freebasing cocaine” around the same time he began deejaying. “I would take my money, race downtown and buy crack,” he tells the magazine.

Overweight and on drugs at 24, he says, “I felt like my life was over. So I went into my living room, reached into a cabinet above my TV and grabbed my gun, a
loaded .22. I sat back on my heels, cocked it and put it into my mouth.

“Then I squinted my eyes and said, “F–k this.” I pulled the trigger. The gun didn’t go off.”

A pal intervened, DJ AM says, and “that was the turning point in my life. I started going to meetings again and distanced myself from friends who were still using drugs.” (He also underwent gastric bypass surgery around age 30.)

Now at 34, he says, “it’s been 9-and-a-half years since I’ve had a drink or taken drugs. But every day I have to remind myself that no matter how much time I have behind me, I’m still a drug addict.

“At any given moment, I’m five seconds away from walking up to someone, grabbing their drink out of their hand and downing it,” he adds.

“And if I do that, within a week, tops, I’ll be smoking crack. So even though I have this crazy fabulous life, I have to hold on to the ground, gripping the grass with both hands.”

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