Bend man recognized for saving girl in dog attack

OREGON -- A Bend man has received an award for saving a young girl from a dog attack.

In spring 2014, Bend’s Craig Randleman, 50, was at a Spokane, Washington, home when he saved the life of a young girl being attacked by a pit bull.

On June 30, Randleman was awarded the Carnegie Medal by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, founded in 1904 by Andrew Carnegie. The commission aims to recognize people who become heroes in daily life in the U.S. and Canada; it provides financial assistance for those disabled in those heroic events and the dependents of people killed while helping others.

On April 3, 2014, Diamond White was walking in an alley through a residential neighborhood in Spokane when two dogs escaped from a nearby yard, according to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

One of the dogs took Diamond to the ground, and the other dog, a 50-pound pit bull, began to maul her. Randleman was in the yard of a Spokane home when he heard screaming and ran over to the attack. Thomas Joy, 28, also ran to the scene.

The two men kicked and punched the dog, pulling it off the girl, but when Randleman bent over Diamond to help her, the dog lunged at his face, causing a severe bite wound.

As Randleman continued to fight the dog, Joy grabbed Diamond to get her to safety, according to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

Joy then returned to help Randleman, freeing him from the dog, but the dog again followed and attacked Randleman as he ran to a nearby yard.

Craig Randleman, 50, suffered dog bites requiring 40 stitches on his wrist, ear
and bicep, along with a swollen hand, after fighting off a pit bull that was
mauling an 8-year-old girl on Thursday in Spokane. Randleman heard the
screams and rushed down his alley to help.

Randleman then broke free for a final time and climbed over a chain-link fence where he lay with the bite wounds to his face, right arm and left bicep, according to The Spokesman-Review newspaper.

When the dog tried to get over the fence to reach Randleman again, a third man, Jason Connerley, 28, came over with a shovel to hit the dog but was bitten by it and the other dog. Eventually, both dogs ran away.

Both Diamond and Randleman received hospital treatment for lacerations, puncture wounds and tears. Joy and Connerley were also awarded the medals by the commission.
(Bend Bulletin - July 4, 2015)

Earlier:

• “He hit that dog 10, 12 times [with a shovel]... It did nothing.”
• 8-Year-Old Girl Speaks After Pit Bull Attack