Community mourns after man drowns in sinkhole while kayaking

A 64-year-old man died in a kayaking accident after a sinkhole opened in a Fulton County, Arkansas river Saturday, according to our partners at KARK.

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Donny Wright, a drug and alcohol abuse counselor who spent over two decades helping others, died in the accident at Spring River.

His daughter, Selah Neal said he was on a weekend getaway celebrating sobriety with the men he counsels at his Searcy transitional home.

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“They went right instead of going through Dead Man’s curve,” said Neal. “The man before him was a guy from his group. He got pulled into it. My dad was trying to go towards him and help him and he got pulled under.”

His family hopes to carry on his Wright’s legacy through the Life Recovery Center he founded two years ago.

Wright’s funeral is scheduled for June 16.

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