MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Kenneth Waller thought his biggest life change would be marrying the love of his life Deann in 2018, but shortly afterwards he received a life-changing diagnosis — stage four esophagus cancer.
"Me and my wife had just gotten married, new house, new life," Waller said. "Everything went from a high to a woah, what's going on here."
Waller's new bride had her own experiences with cancer. She lost both her parents to the disease in 2017.
"It's hard because I start this new life with the most wonderful man ever and now we're battling this," Deann said.
Despite the stress of chemo treatments, there is always one place he can go, the Oconee River.
"The peace, the quietness, it's cool in the summertime. We just have a good time going down," Kenneth said.
Waller and his friends had been kayaking for years and formed the Wet Neck Yak Club. Stacie Frost and Jessica Briggs knew it was the perfect place to rally around their friend.
"We kind of set a small goal and then we started doing it like a month ago and now it's grown into this huge event," Frost said.
The group is taking donations for Waller's treatments and collected $13,000 so far. They are doubling their efforts with a floating fundraiser down the Oconee River.
They are expecting 400 people on Saturday morning and say no one deserves support more than Waller.
"He's a strong man, his faith in God is tremendous and you know he would do this for anybody. He would do this for us. He's that kind of man," Frost said.
Friday was spent cleaning trash and glass from a sandbar on the club's beloved. Waller said the support from his lifelong friends has been phenomenal.
"To sponsor me and support me at this time right now. It just means so much. I never dreamed that it would blow up like this," Waller said.
Registration for Waller's River Float fundraiser starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning at the Oconee River Greenway. You can bring a kayak, tug boat, rafts, or inner tube to float on.
The entry fee is a donation to Waller's cause. Each $10 entry will earn the participant an entry into a raffle. Prizes include an airplane ride around Washington County, Atlanta Braves tickets, and hunting gear.
Checks can be made out to Kenny Waller and sent to:
Bulk Chemical Services, LLC
C/O Jessica Beggs
726 Industrial Drive, Sandersville, GA 31082