Michael Douty died attempting to save Leigh C. Brandenburg from drowning, Greer, South Carolina, August 26, 1995. At night, Leigh, 17, lost her footing and fell from a flooded roadway into Hammett Creek, which was swollen by heavy rain. Submerging, she was washed into one of two culverts that normally carried the creek under the road, and she held briefly to the edge of the culvert. Several friends in her party, including Douty, 18, college student, responded from nearby. Douty entered the water for Leigh but was also pulled into one of the culverts, and he too grasped it by the edge. After the very strong current swept Leigh through the culvert, she surfaced and made her way back to the road. A passerby, 18, entered the creek for Douty; he too was carried through the culvert and left the water safely. Although his friends waited for Douty to surface, he did not, and his body was recovered the next day. He had drowned.
70031 – 8079
70031-8079