Last Walk makes stop in Bigfork

| May 31, 2007 11:00 PM

By LAURA BEHENNA

Bigfork Eagle

One family’s tragedy has led a father on a mission to educate young people about using alcohol responsibly.

Kevin Adkins was an outgoing boy, a member of Future Farmers of America, “a bit of a redneck,” who adored his baby nephew and enjoyed helping people he found stranded by the roadside, his father Barry Adkins told Bigfork Middle School students Friday. Kevin never got in trouble in school, and his only brush with the law was getting a speeding ticket when he was 16.

Kevin made a point of befriending “challenged kids,” his father said. In elementary school, he made friends with David, a boy who used a wheelchair. When David visited the Adkins’ home, Kevin would take David out of his wheelchair, carry him outside and the two would play in the dirt until both were filthy.

After he learned to drive, Kevin would stop to pull someone’s car out of a ditch or give them a ride, despite his parents’ warnings about how risky stopping for strangers could be.

On July 9, 2005, Barry helped 18-year-old Kevin load up his new truck. Kevin was moving out of his parents’ home to share a rented house with three other young men. He had graduated from high school and gotten a good job. He hugged his father and said, “I love you.”

“It would be the last time I would see him alive,” Barry Adkins said.

“Kevin was like a a lot of teenagers,” he said. “He thought he was 10 feet tall and bulletproof.”

That night, Kevin’s friends threw him a housewarming party, bringing a keg of beer and a bottle of Jack Daniels. The kids started throwing back shots of whiskey. Kevin downed six shots, finally passing out.

His friends put him to bed to sleep it off, and for a practical joke, they shaved his head and legs. About 4 a.m. someone noticed Kevin wasn’t breathing and called 911.

Kevin was pronounced dead at the hospital. Alcohol poisoning as a result of binge drinking had killed him.

A police officer stopped by his parents’ home in the morning to tell them the news. Barry Adkins couldn’t believe his son was dead until the officer handed him Kevin’s driver’s license.

The coroner told Barry his son’s blood alcohol level was 0.36, or “very drunk.” But she added she had seen teenagers die at a level of 0.24.

“You never know what someone can tolerate,” Adkins told the middle school students, who were absolutely quiet during his presentation.

“I am convinced something good can come of this,” he went on. “I ask each of you to find something good and do it. Keep doing things you enjoy doing and don’t be afraid to do them. Even if you’re lousy at it, it doesn’t matter. The more you enjoy what you’re doing, the less likely you are to get in trouble.”

Adkins decided to do something good by walking from his family’s home in Gilbert, Ariz., through Nevada, Utah and Idaho to Kalispell, Mont. Since he started walking on Feb. 24, He’s been stopping at schools and community centers along the way to tell Kevin’s story and educate youth and parents about the importance of avoiding underage drinking and binge drinking. His educational walk is a program of Not My Kid, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving understanding about youth behavioral issues.

Adkins’ whole journey will add up to more than 1,400 miles of walking, sometimes accompanied by his wife, daughters or friends. Adkins is carrying a box of Kevin’s cremated ashes in his backpack. The family plans to scatter Kevin’s ashes on their property in Kalispell, where Kevin loved to spend time when he was growing up.

The only person who could have prevented Kevin’s tragic death was Kevin, his father said.

“Everyone in this room has to understand you are ultimately responsible for your own actions,” he said. “No one else is.

“I’m here because I care, and I don’t want to see this happen to anyone else.”

Adkins’ journey will end July 1 at Majestic Valley Arena, north of Kalispell. Adkins will speak at 1:30 p.m., followed by a free lunch, musical entertainment and a rodeo for children.

On the Web: