It’s safe to say that Joe Don Rooney wasn’t happy after his latest flying experience. The Rascal Flatts musician detailed struggling with a panic attack while on a stopped plane.
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Rooney flew from Denver to Nashville last Sunday, and while the flight itself went fine, Rooney found himself stuck on the tarmac. Due to a delay at the gate, Roony and his fellow passengers had to wait three hours until they could unboard.
The issue proved to be a major test fo Rooney, who felt anxious due to the news. On X, he wrote, “I’m in recovery – and while in recovery from alcoholism, there are many triggers that can affect my sobriety – and this experience was a huge one for me.”
While the captain allowed them to take off their seat belts, Rooney realized he wasn’t leaving any time soon. The musician revealed that he takes medication for anxiety, but he stored most of his medication in his checked bag, meaning he couldn’t access it.
As the musician felt his anxiety grew, he struggled with the claustrophobia of being on the plane. He decided to let the flight attendants know about his situation.
He wrote, “I walked up to the front where the flight attendant’s jump seats are located and had to have a conversation with them. I quietly told them all my ailments and that I didn’t want to worry any other passengers. They were very sweet and calm and extremely helpful, asking if I needed an alcoholic beverage to calm me. So, I repeated to them, “No thank you, I’m in recovery but still suffer from occasional high anxiety and claustrophobia.” They were super understanding and actually let me sit in the lavatory off and on until someone else needed to use it.”
Joe Don Rooney Deals with Panic
However, that was just the beginning of his ordeal. Rooney ended up walking back and forth to the bathroom at least five times. He also tried to listen to music and count backward to calm himself. When that didn’t work, he called his case manager as well as a fellow friend in recovery to help him through his anxiety.
After finally making it off the plane, Rooney felt a lot better. However, he still ended up having to wait on his bags.
He wrote, “After an hour of waiting, I was finally able to laugh – and I mean “laugh out loud” laugh about the whole ordeal. People were looking at me like I was the Joker from Batman, losing my mind laughing out loud because the fever in me had finally broke and I was no longer filled with anxiety and claustrophobia from that nightmarish event. I was FREE!! And I was tired and giddy like a young school boy.”
[Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Citi]
