Brian Harman’s friend has his eternal gratitude.
The professional golfer recently shared that family friend Cathy Dowdy—someone he went on to describe as “family”—saved his and wife Kelly Van Slyke’s 6-year-old son during an October outing at a Florida beach, and that Cathy has been in a coma since the ordeal.
“My son was out boogie boarding with one of his really good friends, got ripped out to sea by just a rip current,” Brian told reporters Nov. 19, noting the incident occurred while he was participating in a tournament in China. He added of Cathy, “She went in the water after my son.”
Brian added that when Cathy struggled to get to his son, another passerby by the name of Crane Cantrell—who had been walking along the beach—went into the water as well to see if he could help. The Florida resident continued of the pair, “He makes it out fine; Cathy (got) injured really badly. She's been in a coma for going on six weeks now and so obviously our world down here was kind of turned on its head.”
According to the St Johns Citizen, a lifeguard was able to bring Cathy onto land where she received CPR before being transferred to Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic.
During his remarks, Brian shared his appreciation for the selfless actions of both Crane and Cathy.
“They disregarded their selves, went into the water, saved my son and how do you thank people like that?” he said. “I don't know other than to just say what you think. I think that bravery and doing something like that for people who aren't your blood is just the most beautiful thing you can do in this life.”
The 37-year-old also shared his well wishes for Cathy and her family members, including her husband Mike Dowdy.
“She's up in Savannah and we're thinking about her,” he noted of his friend. “And for all we've been through and for how terrible it's been for Mike and Christina and Nicole, they're family for us and we're with 'em till the end, and I appreciate everybody that's helped us out through all this.”
A GoFundMe set up by Terri Langford, a friend of Cathy’s, noted she was in “critical condition” after “a drowning accident on Sunday, October 13th in Ponte Vedra while trying to save a child in distress.”
Additional updates to the Page have kept well-wishers apprised of Cathy’s status, including that she was moved to a longer-term care and therapy hospital in her home state of Georgia, and that the family was receiving encouraging signs such as Cathy opening her eyes.
More recent updates from November 9 and 18 note that the medical professionals are keeping Cathy sedated to try and “get her BP, breathing and heart rate on an even keel so that they can start trying to wean her off the vent.”
One update also expressed the family’s gratitude for the support they’ve received. As Mike, Cathy’s husband, wrote, “I want you all to know I read every comment and look at every one that ‘likes’ the updates. I don’t respond cause my screen gets wet and I can’t read to write. Thank you all for the prayers, the love and support!”