ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Barry Adkins was an ordinary engineer who liked being at home, right up until the night two police officers and a man in plain clothes appeared at his door. This is the story of what a father does with the worst thing that can happen to him, and the walk that turned unbearable grief into a mission.
In this conversation
Barry lost his son Kevin to alcohol, then walked fourteen hundred miles across three states with Kevin’s ashes in his backpack, telling the story at every school and church that would have him. Two decades and two hundred thousand listeners later, he still says he is not the right man for the job. We talk about the ordinary life he almost took for granted, the 4am moment that gave him a mission, the trick of counting in small chunks when the road is too long, and the forgiveness that took years and had to start with himself. It is a conversation about making something good from the unthinkable, and about how the people most worth listening to are often the ones who never set out to be heard.
About Barry Adkins
Barry Adkins is a speaker and prevention advocate, and the author of Kevin’s Last Walk. After losing his son Kevin, he walked from Arizona to Montana to raise awareness of alcohol and drug harm, and has since spoken to hundreds of thousands of students and families. His latest project, the Million Mile Challenge, invites others to tell their own stories and walk their own miles.
Resources mentioned in this episode
• The Million Mile Challenge — millionmilechallenge.com
• Kevin’s Last Walk (book and website) — kevinslastwalk.com
