By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star

DOWAGIAC – Saturday morning more than 200 people made their way to the Hampshire Country Club in Dowagiac to show their support for one of Niles’ native sons.

The club was the host for The Fighting Toad Golf Outing, a benefit outing for Niles’ Johnny Brawley, who is currently battling colon cancer at the age of 43.

As eager friends, family and supporters signed in and began stocking up their carts amid brisk temperatures and sunny skies, Brawley’s wife, Pam was struck by the turnout.

“It’s actually pretty overwhelming,” she said, adding that officials at Hampshire told her they had “never held an outing this big.”

Friends of the Brawleys came into Dowagiac from as far away as North Carolina, Ohio and Georgia as well as the state’s Upper Peninsula.

Pam said that according to doctors, Brawley is showing “marked improvement. Everything is going exactly the way it should be going. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Still going through rounds of chemotherapy, Brawley was all smiles Saturday as he addressed his appreciation to the crowd just prior to tee off.

“You only have so many days,” he said.

“If you give up a day for me – I am truly humbled, I truly am.”