Luke Perry sadly passed away at the young age of 52 after suffering a massive stroke. His death shocked the world, and people began to flock to social media to share their condolences, shock, and even a few stories about how kind he was.
One story that really took the internet by storm was shared by Colin Hanks, who stars in Fargo, and also happens to be the son of Tom Hanks, which doesn't really relate to this story but is still pretty cool.
Hanks took to Instagram to share a touching story about Perry on a particularly troubling plane ride.
I only met him once but the story is too good not tell given todays sad events. My wife and I are on a plane back from Mexico. Couple of rows ahead of us, these two brothers, young kids, are beating the hell out of each other. Their poor parents are powerless to stop the crying, yelling and screaming. If you're a parent you understand. Sometimes there's nothing you can do. It was like this for close to two hours.
Then about 10 minutes before landing it starts to get real bad. Out of no where, a man comes from first class. Hat, beard, sunglasses, blowing up a balloon. He ties it off, hands it off like he's holding out a sword to a king. Kneeling, Head down, arms up. Kids calm down in milliseconds. Plane damn near bursts into applause. 15 minutes longer and it probably would have started WWIII, but we landed before that could happen.
We get off the plane, are waiting on line in customs. Finally get a good look at the guy and I say to my wife "Holy s**t. I think that balloon man/hero" is Luke Perry". As luck would have it we end up standing next to each other. Out of the blue he turns to me and says some kind words about Fargo, which kinda blew my mind. I start singing his praises about how long I've admired him and also about the move with the balloon. "That's a pro move! You can't teach that!" I say.
He tells me he always flies with a couple of balloons for that very reason, to give to screaming kids. Don't know if that's true, but have no reason to believe it wasn't. Guy seemed like a true gent.
Gone way too damn soon. Also, I'll be damned if I don't start traveling with some spare balloons 🎈🎈🎈 #promove #rip #lukeperry #truegent
Excuse me while I go cry for an hour. Perry had kids of his own, a son and a daughter, and it's safe to say that he was well versed in the temper-tantrums that young kids can have.
Celebrities like Kelly Ripa, Elizabeth Banks, Sophia Bush, and Rita Wilson all commented with how wonderful the story was. It really shows Perry's character that even those who barely knew him, knew that he was a special soul.
