On October 13th, a 6-year-old son of PGA pro Brian Harman went for a swim in the ocean in Ponte Verda Beach, Florida before being pulled out by a rip current. He began to drown.

A family friend of the Harmans, Cathy Dowdy, attempted to save the 6-year-old and was injured very badly in the act. Dowdy’s attempt to save him was unsuccessful, a local man named Cane Cantrell noticed the scene and went in the water. Cantrell saved the boy and pulled him to shore. Dowdy was then brought to the hospital where she was placed in a coma and has been for the past six weeks.

Harman has placed a lot of attention on the situation with his bigger platform. Harman has spoken out about his gratitude for both Dowdy and Cantrell throughout the past six weeks. Harman has also promoted a GoFundMe set up by the Dowdy family which has recently reached over $100,000. Cathy’s recovery has been very slow, she was initially in a local Florida hospital but has since been transferred closer to home to Select Specialty Hospital in Savannah, Georgia.

Cathy’s husband Mike has shared via the GoFundMe page that her “vital organs are okay except they say there is some damage to the brain.” 

Mike is staying hopeful throughout the process and has posted six updates to the GoFundMe page with the latest saying, “She is still unconscious and still having some neuro storms. This causes a roller coaster ride with blood pressure and breathing rate. Lately, there hasn’t been as many.”

Harman has been in a rollercoaster of emotions as well:  “They disregarded their selves, went into the water, saved my son, and how do you thank people like that?” 

The fall and winter are part of the PGA tour’s offseason so lots of players go overseas to play in events. Harman has been out of the United States for most of this process. Harman has a decorated career with three tour wins one of them being a major win at the Open Championship in Europe during 2023.