Hundreds walk for recovery in Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, Md. – If you were walking down the boardwalk in Ocean City on Saturday, you may have seen quite a few people wearing the color purple. That’s because Worcester Goes Purple teamed up with the Atlantic Club and the Worcester Warriors Against Opiate Addiction to host their Walk for Recovery, a walk all about hope.

“It brings absolute tears of joy, and I think that’s the best words I can use, it’s priceless joy for me,” Laura Puckett with the Atlantic Club said.

Priceless joy, watching hundreds of people stroll down the Ocean City boardwalk, all for one purpose.

“This is national recovery month, so we are promoting opioid education and awareness, recovery options to let people know that there is hope for recovery and that there are options available,” Debbie Smullen with Worcester Goes Purple, said.

Some walked to honor loved ones.

“Today I’ve been able to meet her mom lost her son last year to opioid addiction, I met a sister who lost her brother last month,” Smullen said.

Some walked for themselves.

“Today I would be walking for myself, I am in recovery,” Puckett said.

“I also met two gentlemen who were four months into recovery celebrating recovery,” Smullen said.

And some walked for anyone and everyone impacted by addiction.

“I’m walking for everyone who particularly has an addiction,” Colleen Wering with the Worcester County Warriors said.

There was a specific focus on Worcester County after a June report said the area saw a 40% increase in opioid related deaths from 2018 to 2019.

“Right now the opiate addiction is really prominent in our county, and we have kids dying left and right,” Puckett said.

So it was a sea of purple walking down the boards, all to send one message to those struggling with addiction:

“People can recover, they need help, and it’s a lifetime of recovery, and then they become very very strong, look at this,” Wering said.