Randy Knight, owner of Big Dog restaurant, is still recovering after collapsing in November. (Pat Kruis/Pamplin Media Group)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is published as part of “The Human Toll,” a statewide collaboration of news organizations sharing stories about the human impacts of the Covid pandemic. Salem Reporter is part of the collaboration.
REDMOND – It’s been more than a month since Randy Knight collapsed on his living room floor with an aneurysm.
His condition gradually improves. After three weeks in ICU, he’s moved to the medical floor at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. He’s more awake, he can answer questions, but, Melynda Lappin says, he gets confused.
“Sometimes he says, ‘I’m Randy.’ Sometimes he says, ‘I’m the Big Dog.’”
An understandable confusion, since Randy Knight owns the Big Dog restaurant on Crooked River Ranch, about halfway between Madras and Redmond. Some people consider Knight and the Big Dog interchangeable.
The restaurant hasn’t been open since Knight collapsed on Nov. 16. That same day, he and his wife, Barb, tested positive for the coronavirus. More than a month later, he still tests positive.
“He doesn’t have any symptoms,” says Lappin, Barb Knight’s daughter. “The doctors say there’s residual virus in his system.”
The bleeding in Knight’s brain appears to have stopped or at least slowed. Doctors still can’t determine what damage the bleed did to his brain function, if any. They’ve told the family to expect him to stay at St. Charles for at least six more weeks.
Knight does not have insurance. He was hoping to make it to May when he turns 65 and qualifies for Medicare.
The community has come around the family. A GoFundMe effort has raised $18,000. Other donations have brought the total to about $22,000. The Over the Edge Taphouses down the street from the Big Dog is auctioning off a big doghouse and donating the proceeds to the Knights.
“The community in general has been so outstanding. Mom and I want people to know how much that’s appreciated,” Lappin said.
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