Happier days ahead
A scary phone call from my friend was just the start of our story
Hearing my phone ring, I saw it was my old friend Kevin. It was June 2007, and aged 18, I was on a class trip to Mexico. ‘What’s up?’ Kevin said, sounding startled when I answered.
We hadn’t spoken in months, so it was good to hear from him.
Our friendship had blossomed at summer camp when we were both 13.
When I first spotted him at the archery range, I made a joke about his bold, patterned shirt.
After that, we spent the whole holiday making each other laugh.
We’d kept in touch, even though we lived many miles apart.
Now, as we chatted away, I saw my teacher was glaring at me.
‘I’m not supposed to be on my phone, can I call tomorrow?’ I whispered.
‘I’m not really planning on being here tomorrow,’ Kevin replied.
‘What do you mean?’ I answered, confused.
That’s when Kevin told me he was sitting in his car, about to take his own life.
Kevin had always seemed so happy.
How had it come to this? ‘Don’t do that!’ I begged. He said he’d been unhappy for a while, had been struggling with suicidal thoughts.
‘You can’t!’ I urged, my heart racing.
‘I won’t,’ he said to me eventually, voice trembling.
‘Promise you’ll call tomorrow,’ I told him.
He promised, but when I got off the phone I couldn’t help but have doubts.
Tossing and turning in bed that night, I felt so helpless.
Had I done enough?
Should I have called the police?
Just 18, I had no idea if I’d said the right thing.
After an anxious 24 hours, the next afternoon, my phone rang. It was Kevin.
Such a relief.
‘That phone call put things into perspective,’ he told me. ‘I’m so grateful.’ It was the least I could do. We kept in touch more often after that, sometimes he’d share how he was feeling but mostly we’d make each other laugh, as we always had.
It was great to hear him chuckling down the line, knowing the world was lighter for him.
Soon after, Kevin visited me at college, where I was studying music.
‘I wouldn’t have told anyone else,’ he confided. I gulped, thinking what might have happened if I’d missed the call.
Luckily, I hadn’t. And my best friend was still here.
As the years passed, we visited each other whenever we could.
We were both in and out of relationships, and our partners were often suspicious of our close bond.
‘We’re just mates,’ I’d tell whoever I was seeing. I really believed it, too. Then, in November 2015, Kevin called and told me that he’d broken up with his girlfriend.
We hadn’t spoken for a while, as she hadn’t liked our friendship.
By now I was working as a professional singer and had moved away.
Just a few days later, my boyfriend called and broke up with me.
I was distraught, but Kevin comforted me.
‘Why don’t you come and visit me?’ he suggested.
In December 2015, I went to stay with him for a week.
We visited bars, spent the whole time in giggles.
And as the week went on, something started to feel different between us.
Then one night, I leant in for a kiss.
It was completely unexpected, but somehow it
Kevin always seemed so happy. How had it come to this?
just felt so right.
Over the next months, we started seeing each other. In February 2016, I was away on a modelling job and Kevin came to visit me.
Sitting in my hotel room, he told me he loved me.
‘But will you always love me?’ I asked him, still feeling hurt from my last break-up.
‘I’ve loved you since
I first met you,’ he replied simply.
‘Well, if we’ll always love each other, maybe we should just get married,’ I laughed, half-joking.
This time, though,
Kevin didn’t laugh.
And, by that evening, we were planning our wedding on a hotel-room notepad.
When we told our friends we were going to get married, they were shocked.
None of them had seen it coming.
Months later, in April 2016, I flew to Switzerland where Kevin had been working as an engineer. And by Lake Geneva, Kevin proposed to me properly.
‘You saved my life,’ he told me. ‘This was meant to be,’ I replied.
In September 2016, we were married, surrounded by family and friends. For Kevin, it was hard to believe he was marrying the girl who had talked him out of taking his life all those years before.
Now, Kevin is an amazing husband who supports me in everything I do. I decided to change careers and go to law school a year into our marriage. He was behind me every step of the way. We really couldn’t be happier. I never thought that I’d end up marrying that funny boy I met at the archery range all those years ago. But I am so happy that we found, and then saved each other.
It’s so important for people to reach out if they’re experiencing suicidal feelings.
Because you never know what happiness lies ahead.
We’re living proof of that.
Kevin Walsh, 32, says,
‘After Blake talked me out of my suicide attempt, I felt embarrassed. But there’s nothing embarrassing about telling someone you’re struggling.
‘Saying my thoughts out loud to Blake made all the difference, and I’m so glad I did, as it’s the reason I’m here today.
‘Just know that you’re never alone, there will always be someone ready to listen.’