Tom Hanks’ Son Colin Hanks Shares a Seriously Touching Story About Luke Perry

If fans didn’t already miss Luke Perry enough, here’s a super sweet story courtesy of Colin Hanks. 

After the late Beverly Hills, 90210 star passed away on Monday following a stroke, Hanks took to social media to recall the first time he met Perry. Spoiler alert: your heart will melt. 

“I only met him once but the story is too good not [to] 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 eachother. 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,” Hanks described. 

Fortunately, a hidden hero was in their midst.

“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 d–n near bursts into applause. 15 minutes longer and it probably would have started WWIII, but we landed before that could happen,” Tom Hanks‘ son continued. 

But, who was that mystery man? Take one guess. 

“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,” Hanks recalled. “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.”

Ultimately, Hanks had a glowing review of the beloved star. “Guy seemed like a true gent. Gone way too d–n soon,” he wrote. “Also, I’ll be da–ed if I don’t start traveling with some spare balloons  #promove #rip #lukeperry #truegent.”