After car accident, Quigley's son faces fight of his life

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Dana Quigley (shown here in July) has a son that is fighting for his life in a Florida hospital.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Like he has done many times during the last 15 years on the Champions Tour, Dana Quigley stopped by a hospital Monday to check on critically-injured patients. But this time, when he called the nurses' desk to get allowed into the Neurological ICU at St. Mary's Medical Center, he called in his own last name.

Dana's son, Devon, has been in the unit since he was admitted last Wednesday night after a harrowing car accident. The 27-year-old was driving home from a birthday party when his BMW collided with a semi-truck in Riviera Beach. Devon was rushed to nearby St. Mary's for what were clearly life-threatening issues.

"The doctors here didn't think Devon was going to make it through the first night because his brain injuries were so severe," Dana said."Here it is, five days later, and we're still just trying to keep him alive."

When Quigley got the late-night call from the police, he rushed to the hospital not knowing what to expect. It was every parent's nightmare.

"The police officer told us it was bad, very bad,' Quigley said."He said, 'I hate to do this, but we need someone to ID to make sure this is your son.' When I went over there, his face was so swollen, I couldn't even tell if it was my own son."

The swelling had gone down Monday, but Devon is in for the fight of his life. He is in a medically-induced coma to give his brain time to heal. A ventilator does his breathing. There is a catheter on top of his head to help prevent fluid buildup inside his skull. He is in a neck brace, he has multiple facial fractures and there is a tower of medicines nearby being pumped into his body.

Devon's neurosurgeon stopped by to give an update to Dana; his daughter, Nicole; his wife, Angie; and Devon's mother, Charlotte. The doctor said he was encouraged by how much more responsive Devon has become.

"He's hanging in there, that's the real key," he said. "I'm amazed by how well he has progressed because we are dealing with such severe issues."

Dana knows this is a life-changing experience. He said he's handling it as well as possible because of something that happened two weeks at Christ Fellowship, a church his family attends in Palm Beach Gardens.

"Devon came to Christ two weeks ago when he got baptized," Quigley said, his blue eyes glistening."It's convinced me Devon is really in better hands than we are. That's the way I'm approaching it: Devon is really OK. It's up to us to be OK for him."

Dana's story is well told. He struggled to play on the PGA TOUR, but was given golf's golden mulligan when he won his first Champions Tour event as a Monday qualifier in 1994. He won 10 more times, earning more than $14 million and in 2005 was named the Champions' Tour Player of the Year.

People know Dana for his late-career success and his ironman ways -- he once played in 278 consecutive events in which he was eligible for.

I remember Dana for something different: When my son Eric almost died from encephalitis (see NBC special on Eric Dolch here) in 2005, Quigley was the first golf pro to call me and see how Eric was doing. That was in 2005 -- Quigley's best year as a professional.

Quigley has taken the time to check on many other sick children the last 15 years as one of the Champions Tour's top players. When he finished second to Tom Watson in the Charles Schwab Cup in 2005, he donated his entire winnings of $500,000 to four charities.

Now, his family is the one who needs the emotional assistance.

"When you give to help people, especially with the career I have had, you don't ever expect you are going to be the one who needs something," Quigley said. "We don't need charity; we need prayers and positive thoughts from everyone in our lives and Devon's lives. It's a whole different side of the coin. The outpouring of support we have had is mind-boggling."

"The staff here says this is probably the strongest support networks they have seen in here," said Nicole."It has been really amazing. We have tens of thousands of people praying for Devon. We have 60 church-prayer chains going. I have friends in Abu Dhabi who are praying for us. You feel you have good friends, and them a tragedy sets in and you realize you have the best support network in the world."

That's the way it always has been in the golf world. I found that out six years ago when the golf community provided me with incredible support during Eric's illness. The PGA TOUR went over $1 billion in charity donations a while back. That's official money. Golfers undoubtedly have given more than that through their foundations and private fund-raisers.

Almost on cue Monday, a volunteer at the hospital stopped and wished the Quigley family well."I'm a first cousin of Bob Murphy," referring to another Champions Tour player who lives in nearby Boynton Beach.

Devon had played golf at Rhode Island University and hoped to someday become a touring professional, but recently realized that wasn't going to happen. He was scheduled to start a new job this spring in the Northeast.

"His life was coming around," Quigley said. "But the biggest part of his life was accepting Christ and the life he was starting to live."

During a recent round of golf, Devon shot a 69 at Bear Lakes Country Club, only to be trounced by his dad, who shot a 60. They kidded about the 60 in subsequent texts until the day of the accident.

"That morning he texted that if I kelp my head still while putting for a split second longer, we were going to break 60," Quigley said.

Dana was supposed to play golf last Thursday with Devon. They had a 7:04 a.m. tee time at Bear Lakes. Let's hope they someday get to play that game.

• To keep up with Devon's progress, go to www.caringbridge.org and type in"devonquigley" to get updates from the family.

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.