How running helps one man heal from substance abuse

ABC NEWS (Australia)

On the first day of 2026, many Australians will take the opportunity to make a new year's resolution, like starting a new hobby or getting fit. Some might choose running, but for some it's not just about getting more exercise. It's a way for people to recover from addiction and substance abuse.

Transcript

00:00My whole life I was never going to be someone who liked exercise, I was never going to be those people.

00:19And I don't like the exercise before I started, because I feel the hurt, I feel the pain, I feel like I'm just going to give up.

00:26But then when you do it, you do the first 2K or 3K or 4K or 5K, I think about that.

00:32And at the end I just feel like, I can do this again and again.

00:39And it gives me a sense of achievement that just then becomes joy.

00:46My name is Shalom Kha and I am a local entertainer.

00:50But throughout that period of time, there's been substance abuse, especially with ice.

00:56And it's sort of laced my last 7 or 8 years in a way that I never expected.

01:02Because I didn't expect life to come and tell me, knock on my door and say,

01:06actually, you haven't worked some things out.

01:10I grew up as a child looking very different.

01:13I had Asian eyes, I was clearly going to be gay.

01:18I don't think my parents knew how much I was bullied.

01:22Nor did I tell them.

01:24Being Indigenous in New Zealand was actually really, really difficult back then.

01:28And so I just, I didn't feel like, I didn't like myself at all.

01:32So when I discovered this drug that gives it to you straight away,

01:36and it was absolutely enticing.

01:43Do you need a break?

01:45No, I'm good.

01:46Unless you need me to not be crying in the sea.

01:48On Boxing Day 2022, I'd been using intravenously for a while.

01:54And I felt my arm become really painful.

01:59And four days later, my arm was the size of a football.

02:03So I went to RDH, and sure enough, I had had an infection in this arm

02:10from using that dirty needle.

02:12If I'd gone later, I might have lost my arm.

02:16I left hospital after 16 days, and I went straight back to the meth.

02:21A few weeks later, my father-in-law died.

02:23And a week later, my mother died.

02:25That was a turning point for me.

02:32Running became part of the way I didn't use meth.

02:35It makes you feel amazing.

02:36It makes you feel like you've achieved something.

02:38There's so much greatness that comes from the end of the race.

02:41But once you're in it, and once you finish it,

02:43and once you do that extra K,

02:46like you could go and conquer the world after that.

02:49That's the joy that it brings you.

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