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Kevin Bacon Surprises Students at High School Where ‘Footloose’ Was Filmed — Announces He’s Visiting Them for Prom

After some very serious lobbying from students at Payson High School in Payson, Utah, where “Footloose” was filmed, Kevin Bacon announced Friday that he would be returning to the high school for this year’s senior prom. 

“My Last Thought Was a Desperate Plea to God, ‘Lord, Give Me the Strength to Die Well’”: Mom With ‘Invisible Illness’ Shares Her Harrowing...

"'Help me to not look like I am suffocating,' I prayed. 'Lord, please protect my son’s heart from this.’ And I faded away."

“My Husband Turned Blue to Gray”: Wife In Shock Over the One Drink That Killed Her Husband

"The doctor's exact words were 'People drinking these drinks are playing Russian Roulette with their lives.' I was blown away and couldn’t believe just one drink could do this damage"... And KIDS can buy these anywhere.

17-Yr-Old Leaves Suicide Note—5 Seconds Before He Ends It, He Feels His Pocket Vibrate

The day Kevin Walsh decided he would take his own life, he never could have imagined the girl who intervened would become his wife over a decade later.

Kevin met Blake at Bair Lake Bible Camp in Michigan when they were just 13 years old…but Kevin still recalls the moment he met the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on like it was yesterday.

They first crossed each other’s paths at the archery station when Blake came up to him and said, “Black is a good color on you.”

“I was like, ‘At least she’s talking to me; she’s the prettiest girl I had ever seen,'” said Kevin.

But that was only the beginning of the blooming friendship that would one day save his life.

The two lived in different states, but they kept in touch between summer camps over the years through AOL Instant Messenger. They also texted each other from time to time, but a few years later, they lost touch as they grew too old for camp and their lives went separate ways.

At the age of 17, Kevin started to experience deep depression associated with suicidal thoughts. From a bad break-up to his dog dying on prom day, the teen encountered a series of unfortunate events that made life even grimmer.

“A bunch of regular life stuff happened that hit me harder than it should have,” he recalls.

After contemplating killing himself for about a month, he finally wrote a goodbye note and decided that he would slit his wrists and end it once and for all.

But just seconds before he was to complete the act, Kevin felt a vibration in his pocket. It was his cell phone.

“I was basically staring down the barrel of my own mortality,” said Kevin, but he picked up the call. “It was her. We hadn’t talked in a year and the one person I believed I would have opened up to called at that exact moment I had let everything go and was at peak vulnerability.”

Kevin got open and honest with Blake for the first time. When she asked what he was doing, he told her he was about to commit suicide.

“Literally, all she said in that moment was, ‘What? Don’t do that,’” said Kevin.

They got to catching up and Kevin told Blake he’d call her tomorrow—which he felt was a strange promise to make considering he didn’t think he’d be alive tomorrow.

Kelsey Straeter
Kelsey Straeter
Kelsey is an editor at Outreach. She’s passionate about fear fighting, freedom writing, and the pursuit of excellence in the name of crucifying perfectionism. Glitter is her favorite color, 2nd only to pink, and 3rd only to pink glitter.

Kevin Bacon Surprises Students at High School Where ‘Footloose’ Was Filmed — Announces He’s Visiting Them for Prom

After some very serious lobbying from students at Payson High School in Payson, Utah, where “Footloose” was filmed, Kevin Bacon announced Friday that he would be returning to the high school for this year’s senior prom. 

“My Last Thought Was a Desperate Plea to God, ‘Lord, Give Me the Strength to Die Well’”: Mom With ‘Invisible Illness’ Shares Her Harrowing...

"'Help me to not look like I am suffocating,' I prayed. 'Lord, please protect my son’s heart from this.’ And I faded away."

“My Husband Turned Blue to Gray”: Wife In Shock Over the One Drink That Killed Her Husband

"The doctor's exact words were 'People drinking these drinks are playing Russian Roulette with their lives.' I was blown away and couldn’t believe just one drink could do this damage"... And KIDS can buy these anywhere.