Paddle Run for fun and purpose

The 5th Annual Brock Haney and Ethan Beck Memorial Paddle Run will take place Saturday, June 11 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The five-mile kayak and canoe outing will be along the Wallkill River in Montgomery from Thomas Bull Memorial Park to Benedict Farm Park. At the end of the excursion, participants can stay for live music, food and raffles.

The Paddle Run was conceived by Mike and Kym Haney, and Michael and Laura Beck. Each of their sons, Brock Haney and Ethan Beck, died by overdose. The families didn’t know each other until after the tragic loss of their sons. They told Straus News they use their personal experiences to help addicts, and other families, and work to educate the public about drug and alcohol addiction by promoting awareness in schools, informational movies, and partnering with different organizations. They feel that doing this work helps them deal with their grief.

As the Becks and Haneys got to know each other, they discovered their sons had a lot in common. One common interest both boys enjoyed was water activities, especially paddling. The Paddle Run was born five years ago.

Michael Beck, Ethan’s dad, described his son’s struggles with mental health issues and that he turned to drugs as a way to self-medicate. He found out about his son’s addiction in 2012, which started with painkillers, and progressed to opiates and heroin. Ethan had been in and out of rehabilitation facilities over the years, and in 2017 he was found unresponsive in a half-way house, dead of an overdose. He was 26 years old. Michael Beck said the grief “takes a lot of years from you”, and that Ethan was “a good kid with a mental health problem.”

Brock Haney “was a very giving young man with a good heart”, said his parents Mike and Kym. He went on missions to Bolivia, , and to Uganda to work in an orphanage. Even though he struggled with his own addiction, he helped others get into treatment. His parents feel he also self-medicated, due to a childhood trauma. Brock overdosed in 2016 at 25 years old.

The Paddle Run benefits The Tri-County Community Partnership and Hope not Handcuffs. The Tri-County Community Partnership raises awareness of the risks of alcohol and drug use through prevention, family support, and drug dependency programs. Hope not Handcuffs offers drug and alcohol users the chance to get the help without fear of being arrested. The way the program works is when an addict recognizes they need to get clean, go to rehab, and remove themselves from their current situation, they ask for help at a participating police department, get evaluated, and then are paired with a trained volunteer.

For more information about the Paddle Run, and to register, visit www.paddlerun.org.