Heath Ledger’s tragic passing has almost reached the decade mark, but it still seems a little unreal that the actor is gone. Same goes for most young actors, especially once you consider that you’ll be seeing them everywhere as their careers take off — Brittany Murphy, Anton Yelchin, etc. — but Ledger is one of the most high profile in recent years with his turn in The Dark Knight. His father Kim Ledger recently spoke with The Daily Mail Australia about his son’s passing and about the actor’s battle with pill addiction:
‘It was totally his fault. It was no one else’s – he reached for them. He put them in his system. You can’t blame anyone else in that situation.
‘That’s hard to accept because I loved him so much and was so proud of him,’ Mr Ledger said.
‘His sister was on the phone to him the night before telling him not to take the prescription medications with the sleeping tablets.
‘He said: “Katie, Katie, I’m fine. I know what I’m doing.” He would have had no idea.’
The report highlights that many Australians are battling similar pill addictions today, with a recent survey showing that at least a quarter of the population is dealing with medication abuse. High profile individuals like Prince or Ledger seem to be plagued by the issue, highlighting the mindset some physicians take to their celebrity clientele:
‘Because he was travelling a lot, he would pop in to a doctor. In the case of someone with a higher profile it’s often a case of “what do you want” instead of “what do you need”.
‘There’s so much pressure on them to perform so even though your body is telling you that it’s not good and needs time, it’s like “just take these painkillers and keep going”.
‘That was the case with Heath. He had to be back on set to finish (the next day).
‘They were doing night shoots in the freezing cold and he had a weak chest anyway. He’d caught this (cough) and just couldn’t shake it but he thought he had to because he wanted to get the movie done.’
It is very easy to pop a pill to feel good, despite the high-profile overdoses we see constantly floating around in the headlines. Medications still have a positive aura around them because they are meant to help people, but there’s that dark side following close behind. While it is difficult to talk about, Ledger’s father is doing a service by discussing the actor’s troubles. Raising awareness for a problem where people are possibly taking up to 60 codeine tablets according to The Daily Mail is much needed.
(Via Daily Mail / Bro Bible)
