Episode 65 - Being Twenty Again at Fifty with Douglas Knake

Bonus Pitch Episode

This true story would make a great movie!

In this episode of the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast, host Jaclyn welcomes guest Douglas Knake who shares his harrowing and miraculous experience with meningitis. Douglas recounts falling severely ill after a trip to Los Cabos, slipping into a coma, and waking up thinking it was 1969. He discusses his near-death experience, the traumatic impact on his family, and his long road to recovery, including regaining lost memories. Douglas also touches on his book, 'Being 20 Again at 50,' which details his journey, and provides contact information for those interested in his story. The highlights:

• Welcome and Guest Introduction
• The Onset of Illness
• Hospitalization and Diagnosis
• Coma and Memory Loss
• Reconnecting with Family
• Near-Death Experience and Divine Encounter
• Book and Contact Information

Douglas’ Book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Douglas-Knake/dp/1662885008

Douglas on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/douglas.knake

Douglas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-knake-ab2137239/

Douglas’ Email   Doug@kitchensanbeyond.com

Inquire about Pitch and Promote Episodes: admin@familyfriendlyscreenwriting.com

The Faith & Family Filmmakers podcast helps filmmakers who share a Christian worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. Releasing new episodes every week, we interview experts from varying fields of filmmaking; from screenwriters, actors, directors, and producers, to film scorers,  talent agents, and distributors. 

It is produced and hosted by Geoffrey Whitt and Jaclyn Whitt , and is brought to you by the Faith & Family Filmmakers Association

Support Faith & Family Filmmakers Our mission is to help filmmakers who share a Christian Worldview stay in touch, informed, and inspired. If you would like to assist with the costs of producing this podcast, you can help by leaving a tip.

Get Email Notifications

Enter the Faith & Family Screenwriting Awards festival

Faith and Family Screenwriting Academy: https://www.faffassociation.com/

Script Notes and Coaching: https://www.faffassociation.com/script-services

Jaclyn's Book, In the Beginning, Middle, and End: A Screenwriters Observations of Life, Character, and God https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9R7XS9V

Copyright 2024 Ivan Ann Productions

Jaclyn: 00:00:00

Hello, welcome to the Faith and Family Filmmakers Podcast.

Jaclyn: 00:00:02

I'm Jaclyn, and today I have a special guest with me, Douglas Naughty, and he has a very unique experience to share with everyone.

Jaclyn: 00:00:12

a few years back, you were on vacation in Los Cabos.

Jaclyn: 00:00:16

What happened when you returned home?

Douglas: 00:00:18

so when I re returned home, I started coming down with flu-like symptoms.

Douglas: 00:00:23

I getting sick on a Wednesday, went through all my appointments.

Douglas: 00:00:27

I even went and worked out it the Y, came home and I told my wife, Hey, I don't feel good.

Douglas: 00:00:32

I'm just going to go to bed.

Douglas: 00:00:34

So I slept all night, Wednesday, got up the next morning and I explained to her I was still sick.

Douglas: 00:00:40

And so I stayed home all day Thursday and I could tell I was getting worse as the day went on, but I didn't do anything about it.

Douglas: 00:00:48

Uh, so Thursday night, about 1130, I decided to get up out of bed and go take a shower.

Douglas: 00:00:55

And in doing that, I'm having troubles negotiating things, trying to get there.

Douglas: 00:01:01

I mean, I'm so delirious at this point, I even went into the shower with my clothes on.

Jaclyn: 00:01:07

Yeah, wow.

Douglas: 00:01:08

And I, and I'm like having troubles, functioning.

Douglas: 00:01:11

you know, it's like, everything's not making sense to me.

Douglas: 00:01:13

So I go to get out of the shower and I hit the floor like a ton of bricks.

Douglas: 00:01:20

And I managed to pull myself up on, the vanity and I'm looking in the mirror and there's all this blood running down the side of my face.

Douglas: 00:01:31

that thud on the floor alerted, my wife and my youngest son, but during the time before they found me, I looked in the mirror, saw that blood, and I just remember saying in slow motion, Oh, wow.

Jaclyn: 00:01:46

Mm hmm.

Douglas: 00:01:46

it's, it's like that sensation that you get when they put you under anesthesia.

Douglas: 00:01:50

You're, you're like warping out.

Douglas: 00:01:52

That's the last thing I remember is saying, Oh, wow.

Jaclyn: 00:01:56

Did you think that you might die?

Douglas: 00:01:58

No, I had had no idea what was going on.

Douglas: 00:02:02

Um, so Nikki calls 9 1 1, EMTs show up, they get me to the hospital, and they ask my wife, have you guys been out of the country?

Douglas: 00:02:11

So things change rapidly when

Douglas: 00:02:15

you tell them that.

Douglas: 00:02:15

you're, treated, you're quarantined, everybody's like, you know, masked up and suited up.

Douglas: 00:02:22

it's instant spinal tap at that point and they draw your fluid.

Douglas: 00:02:26

If it's cloudy, then they run a strand check because they need to know, which form of meningitis you have.

Douglas: 00:02:32

I had menococcal meningitis, which is, the worst one you can get.

Douglas: 00:02:36

and the timeline on this stuff is, there's a 10 day incubation period.

Douglas: 00:02:42

When that's done, you have 24 hours to get antibiotics in you.

Douglas: 00:02:47

And most people are dead in 24 hours.

Jaclyn: 00:02:50

And how long was it for you at that point?

Douglas: 00:02:52

I had gone 36 hours.

Jaclyn: 00:02:54

Okay, so you already beat a few odds.

Douglas: 00:02:57

Yes.

Douglas: 00:02:58

and I think that has to do God showing that He's God, because I should not be alive.

Douglas: 00:03:05

I mean, there is no question in my mind that I should not be alive.

Jaclyn: 00:03:10

Okay, so then what happened next?

Jaclyn: 00:03:12

Like, you said the last thing you remembered was when you blacked out in the bathroom.

Douglas: 00:03:16

I'm in a coma for three days.

Douglas: 00:03:19

Okay.

Douglas: 00:03:20

I'm 50 years old at the time.

Douglas: 00:03:21

This was October of 2006.

Douglas: 00:03:24

so during this timeframe, because of the condition that I came in at, which is unconscious, non responsive and septic, they have very little data on people who survive, in that condition.

Douglas: 00:03:37

they were basically preparing my wife that I was not going to make it.

Douglas: 00:03:42

so if you can imagine all the thoughts and the, I don't know what you want to call it, the heartache, the

Douglas: 00:03:48

the pressure, uh, uh, what the family was going through at this point.

Douglas: 00:03:54

Um, so on the third day, I'm waking up and I can hear.

Douglas: 00:03:58

People's voices in the room and they're talking and the neurologist was in there and They told everybody to be quiet.

Douglas: 00:04:06

So she said I need to ask you some questions And you know, I'm you have to understand I'm looked like a stroke victim The whole right side of my body was, sagging.

Douglas: 00:04:18

There was no movement.

Douglas: 00:04:20

My arm, right arm shook uncontrollably.

Douglas: 00:04:23

I lost my hearing, in my right ear.

Douglas: 00:04:27

Um, I lost the senses in my body to be able to tell what's hot and cold, how to walk, how to run.

Douglas: 00:04:34

my memory had gotten erased to where I was 20 years old again.

Douglas: 00:04:40

So the neurologist asked me if I knew my name.

Douglas: 00:04:42

I told her my name.

Douglas: 00:04:43

She said, what year is it?

Douglas: 00:04:44

I said, it's 1969, you know, and people who know me, know I have a bit of a sense of

Douglas: 00:04:50

humor but I wasn't laughing.

Douglas: 00:04:53

You know, they were looking at me like, okay, so, you know, she asked me, who's president?

Douglas: 00:04:58

And I said, uh, Nixon's president.

Douglas: 00:05:01

And, so friends of ours in the room were Mark and Colleen, and Mark looks like my older brother.

Douglas: 00:05:07

So I said to him, I said, uh, Mike, I said, what are you doing here?

Douglas: 00:05:10

I see you're still dating your girlfriend, That was his girlfriend back in 1969.

Douglas: 00:05:16

So right then and there, everybody's kind of like, you know, the

Jaclyn: 00:05:20

Yeah, wondering, wait, is he joking?

Douglas: 00:05:23

Yeah.

Douglas: 00:05:24

Well, they could, they could tell at that point that I was

Jaclyn: 00:05:27

Yeah, something else is happening.

Douglas: 00:05:29

Um, so then my daughter walks into the room and she hands me a CD and I said, what's that?

Douglas: 00:05:36

And she tells me it's a CD dad.

Douglas: 00:05:38

It plays music.

Douglas: 00:05:39

And I said, no, hun, they're black and about this big around.

Jaclyn: 00:05:42

right.

Douglas: 00:05:43

So, you know.

Douglas: 00:05:44

Vinyl records.

Douglas: 00:05:46

And so she said, well, your favorite band's on there.

Douglas: 00:05:48

So I'm, thinking like, uh, Rolling Stones or Boston or, you know, something of that nature.

Douglas: 00:05:53

and she said, no, it's Dave Matthews.

Douglas: 00:05:55

And I said, don't even know who that

Jaclyn: 00:05:57

right.

Douglas: 00:05:58

And so then she asked, the neurologist asked me, do you know this lady sitting next to the bed?

Douglas: 00:06:05

And I'm, already shaking my head.

Douglas: 00:06:06

No, I don't know who this lady is.

Douglas: 00:06:09

she, tells me just to come up with a name.

Douglas: 00:06:11

So I called her.

Douglas: 00:06:12

April.

Douglas: 00:06:13

And my wife's name is Diane.

Douglas: 00:06:15

The first thing my wife says to me is, who's April?

Douglas: 00:06:19

And I said, well, she told me to come up with a name.

Douglas: 00:06:22

And I said, look, I said, you're a beautiful lady, but I have no clue who you are.

Douglas: 00:06:28

And I mean, it was just like instant tears just rolling down her face and just sobbing at that point.

Jaclyn: 00:06:36

So, you didn't recognize your wife, but you did recognize your daughter.

Douglas: 00:06:41

Yes.

Jaclyn: 00:06:42

And did you recognize her as your daughter?

Douglas: 00:06:45

Yes.

Douglas: 00:06:45

That was what was so weird.

Douglas: 00:06:46

That's what totally blew people away.

Douglas: 00:06:49

and I also recognized my mother in law.

Jaclyn: 00:06:53

Interesting.

Douglas: 00:06:54

Yes.

Douglas: 00:06:55

So it's like your mind picks sections.

Jaclyn: 00:06:58

yeah.

Douglas: 00:06:59

one thing I wrote in the book was I, think the reason I remembered my mother in law is because they're amazing cooks.

Jaclyn: 00:07:05

Oh, okay.

Jaclyn: 00:07:06

You love food.

Jaclyn: 00:07:06

Mm hmm.

Douglas: 00:07:07

Oh my goodness.

Douglas: 00:07:08

Yeah.

Douglas: 00:07:08

Especially, mom's, shrimp fettuccine.

Douglas: 00:07:11

It's, it's, to die for.

Jaclyn: 00:07:13

I bet.

Jaclyn: 00:07:14

Okay, so after you've gone through all of this trauma and you've woken up and, You don't remember your wife.

Jaclyn: 00:07:22

You have no memory of her.

Jaclyn: 00:07:23

You do remember your daughter, but you're You don't have any other memories, really, from the time you were 20 years old till you were 50 at the time.

Jaclyn: 00:07:32

That's 30 years worth of memories.

Jaclyn: 00:07:33

A lot has changed in the world in 30 years.

Jaclyn: 00:07:37

when you went back home, did you start to remember things?

Douglas: 00:07:43

that is like a huge story.

Douglas: 00:07:45

one of the pivotal moments, that showed some signs of regaining my memory is when, about two months of being at home and she had already taught me one on one computers.

Douglas: 00:07:58

you know, and my short term memory loss is so bad at that time, that she would have to keep She sat down with me, but I, got to the point where she was showing me family photos and I started recognizing that this lady who was just taking care of me was in every one of those photos.

Douglas: 00:08:20

was sitting there and the next thing I know, I recognized who she was and I mean the flood of emotions that hit me was so overwhelming that, I was like in shock.

Douglas: 00:08:33

I was like, Oh my gosh, I've been arguing with this lady that she's not my wife, for the longest time.

Douglas: 00:08:39

so at this point I'm still not able to walk.

Douglas: 00:08:42

I'm having to hold on to furniture and the walls and what have you to make it out to the kitchen.

Douglas: 00:08:48

And I told her, I know who you are now.

Douglas: 00:08:51

and I told her, I said, you're my wife.

Douglas: 00:08:53

And it was like, this moment in time where you just know you connected.

Douglas: 00:08:59

And she puts her hands on my face and tells me we're going to get through this.

Douglas: 00:09:03

I mean, she's like laughing, but crying and, and just, just a whole gamut of emotion right there.

Douglas: 00:09:10

I'm still in this, state.

Douglas: 00:09:12

I have no idea what present day is.

Douglas: 00:09:14

I don't even know who I am.

Jaclyn: 00:09:17

During the time that you were in a coma, do you have any memory of anything happening?

Jaclyn: 00:09:22

Mm

Douglas: 00:09:22

Yes, very much so.

Douglas: 00:09:24

Um, and I, I was trying to run from this.

Douglas: 00:09:28

I was trying not to acknowledge that this happened.

Douglas: 00:09:32

And I went for the longest time without saying anything to anybody because for fear of them thinking I was like nuts, you know, that I was crazy.

Douglas: 00:09:42

but God kept pursuing me and kept telling me, we had a conversation and you need to acknowledge it.

Douglas: 00:09:52

So I was sitting on a couch one day with my wife and I, told her, Um, I need to tell you something, something happened to me.

Douglas: 00:10:00

I explained to her that when I was in the coma, that I had woke up into the sea of pitch blackness.

Douglas: 00:10:07

And I mean, it's like a black, you've never experienced or seen, or, you know, just like hanging around, like I was an observer.

Douglas: 00:10:14

And the next thing I'm is like something moving off in the distance.

Douglas: 00:10:19

The next thing I know, it's coming at me.

Douglas: 00:10:21

I mean, it's getting closer and the closer it gets, the bigger it gets.

Douglas: 00:10:24

And the noises coming from these things was just incredible.

Douglas: 00:10:28

I mean, they're hissing and screaming.

Douglas: 00:10:30

And then, all of a sudden you can see flames coming off their body.

Douglas: 00:10:33

And At this point, I'm terrified.

Douglas: 00:10:35

I am absolutely scared, like I've never been scared before.

Douglas: 00:10:40

and I felt like I had no way out, no way out of that situation.

Douglas: 00:10:45

And then all of a sudden, God said to me, do not be afraid.

Douglas: 00:10:49

I'm with you.

Douglas: 00:10:51

As soon as He said that.

Douglas: 00:10:53

It got absolutely beautiful.

Douglas: 00:10:55

like, the brightness of everything, and then the foundations of heaven showed up.

Douglas: 00:11:00

I mean, it was just absolutely massive, and I was, like, in awe.

Douglas: 00:11:05

I mean, it was just, just, like, unbelievable.

Douglas: 00:11:09

And the neat thing about it is when God said, do not be afraid.

Douglas: 00:11:13

I knew exactly who it was.

Douglas: 00:11:16

My soul knew exactly who that was and what was going on.

Douglas: 00:11:21

So the next thing I know, I'm going down through the streets of heaven it's super fast, like, so fast.

Douglas: 00:11:28

And then the next thing I know I'm sitting in a grassy knoll.

Douglas: 00:11:32

And the grass is fairly tall and you could like see the mist going through the grass.

Douglas: 00:11:37

And all of a sudden God says my name he said, Doug.

Douglas: 00:11:41

and I mean, I really didn't know what, to do at that point.

Douglas: 00:11:44

you're kind of like, in shock and you're, because of, of.

Douglas: 00:11:47

Everything that's going on.

Douglas: 00:11:49

And he says, do you realize all the choices that you make in life, not only affect you, but everybody around you.

Douglas: 00:11:57

And then all of a sudden this pond just appears.

Douglas: 00:12:00

And, and I mean, you could hear the water moving and the mist across the top of the water, and he drops a pebble.

Douglas: 00:12:08

And he says, you see those ripples?

Douglas: 00:12:10

He said, those ripples are your choices and they just keep going.

Douglas: 00:12:14

They keep affecting everybody around you.

Douglas: 00:12:17

And he says, you need to be careful what your choices are.

Douglas: 00:12:21

I'm sending you back.

Douglas: 00:12:23

And I mean, I was like, in shock that he was going to send me back.

Douglas: 00:12:27

And I pleaded with him.

Douglas: 00:12:29

I mean, I pleaded with him, this place is just absolutely amazing.

Douglas: 00:12:34

I have never felt such peace and love in all my life.

Douglas: 00:12:38

And I said, I don't want to go back.

Douglas: 00:12:40

And the next thing he says to me, he says, I've got something for you to do.

Douglas: 00:12:44

I'm sending you back.

Douglas: 00:12:46

And that's when I woke up in the hospital bed and I could hear the voices and I could hear people talking before I woke up and, you know, then it was just like, reality hits me

Jaclyn: 00:12:58

Yeah.

Jaclyn: 00:12:59

Wow.

Jaclyn: 00:12:59

That's amazing.

Jaclyn: 00:13:00

What is the name of your book?

Douglas: 00:13:02

called being 20 again at 50.

Jaclyn: 00:13:05

All right.

Jaclyn: 00:13:05

And where can people find it?

Douglas: 00:13:07

They can find it on Amazon, Barnes Noble, Zulon, Press is the other one.

Jaclyn: 00:13:13

Okay.

Jaclyn: 00:13:13

And what's the best way for people to get ahold of you?

Jaclyn: 00:13:15

If any producers or writers hearing this story today decide that they want to get in contact with you?

Douglas: 00:13:21

I'm on Facebook and LinkedIn, my address is Doug at Kitchens and Beyond.

Douglas: 00:13:28

Uh, it's Kitchens with an S A N Beyond dot com.

Jaclyn: 00:13:32

Okay.

Jaclyn: 00:13:33

And we'll have that contact information, available as well.

Jaclyn: 00:13:36

If people need to contact us directly to get in contact with you, we'll have your, links in the show notes.

Jaclyn: 00:13:42

And so for those of you listening that have thought this is an amazing story, because it is, you're welcome to buy the book.

Jaclyn: 00:13:48

And if you're thinking you want to bring it to life on the screen, you know who to call.

Jaclyn: 00:13:53

All right.

Jaclyn: 00:13:53

Thanks for sharing your story today with us, Doug.

Jaclyn: 00:13:55

It was really great to get to know you and hear about all of this.

Jaclyn: 00:13:58

It's pretty amazing.

Douglas: 00:13:59

Thank you.

Douglas: 00:14:00

I appreciate it.