Golfer Brian Harman said a family friend has been in a coma for nearly six weeks after she jumped into the water to save his 6-year-old son from drowning.
Harman told reporters ahead of the RSM Classic on St. Simons Island, Georgia, on Tuesday that his family was on vacation in Florida along with their friend Cathy Dowdy when the incident occurred. He was competing at the Macau Open in China at the time.
“I’ll try to make it through this as best I can. When I was in China, my wife took my kids and our family friend Cathy Dowdy down to Ponte Vedra for vacation,” he said. “My son ... was out boogie boarding with one of his really good friends. He got ripped out to sea by just a rip current. This was an abnormally bad one.”
Dowdy went in the water after the child but started struggling, Harman said. A bystander jumped in to help.
Harman said Dowdy was "injured really badly in the water” and has spent the past six weeks in a hospital.
“Obviously, our world down here was kind of turned on its head,” he said. “I don’t really know what I wanted to kind of say, other than I wanted to use whatever platform I did to bring awareness to what Cathy did.”
Harman, a three-time PGA Tour champion, asked for prayers for Dowdy’s family.
“They’re family for us. We’re with them till the end, and I appreciate everybody that’s helped us out through all this,” he said. “Prayers for Cathy.”