“I can’t believe I’m not gonna see him.”
Jeanne Harman, mother of Scott Harman, a third-year student who died Monday afternoon, said the shock of her loss still hasn’t fully set in.
“It was an honor and privilege to be his mother for 20 years,” Jeanne Harman said.
Jeanne Harman told The Lantern what she heard happened Monday afternoon. She said her son was at his apartment with his roommate, who left at about 2 p.m., and when his roommate returned a little after 4 p.m., he found Scott Harman unconscious and no attempt to call 911 had been made on his phone. She said that even though his roommate called 911, it was too late.
He never was taken to the hospital.
Although the exact cause of Scott Harman’s death is unknown at this time, Scott Harman had a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is “a condition in which the heart muscle becomes thick. Often, only one part of the heart is thicker than the other parts. The thickening can make it harder for blood to leave the heart, forcing the heart to work harder to pump blood,” according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s website.
Scott Harman was diagnosed with the genetic heart condition, which his father also has, but Jeanne Harman said he hadn’t shown any symptoms after regular doctors visits.
Scott Harman loved sports and athletics. His mom said that in high school, he was the catcher on the baseball team and enjoyed playing soccer, surfing, playing guitar and singing.
“He never met a ball he didn’t like,” said Jeanne Harman.
She said that phrase could also be changed to “he never met a lunch he didn’t like.”
Scott Harman went to Oakwood High School in the Dayton area. At OSU, he was majoring in professional golf management and was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Omicron chapter. Before that, he was an active member of Alpha Sigma Phi at Otterbein University, where he took classes before transferring to OSU.
Ryan Patingale, one of Scott’s friends, said Scott Harman was a great person who was always happy, smiling and wearing mismatching clothes.
“Everyone would know Scott from his snapback hats and polo shirts. He had a mismatched style that everyone knew,” said Patingale, a former member of Alpha Sigma Phi and graduate of Otterbein University.
Members of the TKE fraternity have been mourning the loss of their brother.
“It’s a very sad situation. Our guys are going through the typical grieving process,” said Tom McAninch, international director of communications and public relations for Tau Kappa Epsilon.
OSU has also reached out to the fraternity and to Scott Harman’s other friends and family.
“The university has reached out to members of the fraternity and other friends to offer whatever support the university can offer,” said Dave Isaacs, communications and media relations manager of student life.
Isaacs said OSU’s Interfraternity Council will soon receive the T-shirts they order every year, but this year, members will request those who order a shirt to donate a dollar for Harman’s family for funeral expenses.
The support OSU has shown the Harmans has not gone unnoticed, and Jeanne said she was very impressed with how everything has been handled.
“I’m getting through this with my friends and hope,” she said.
Patingale said he was at OSU last Friday to see Scott Harman and had plans to visit him again Tuesday. Instead of visiting his friend, Patingale spent two hours “sitting and reminiscing” at the rock painted at Otterbein during a midnight vigil Monday night in honor of him.
“The one thing I think that can be taken away from this is just living your life everyday to the fullest and always having a smile on your face because it’s contagious,” Patingale said.