A North Dakota farmer named Lane Unhjem suffered a heart attack during wheat and canola harvest, so around 60 neighboring farmers of the man came together to help him. They harvested his crops with their equipment.
When Lane Unhjem was operating his combine, it suddenly caught on fire. The farmer worked hard to put out the fire and prevent his crops from getting destroyed, and the stress of it all proved to be too much for Unhjem’s heart. It caused him a subsequent heart attack and he was immediately flown to the hospital, leaving his farm unharvested.
Seeing this incident, Unhjem’s neighboring farmers didn’t hesitate to put their harvesting on hold to help him. They explained that it was nothing strange to help the family in their time of need as letting the crops go unharvested would’ve been a big loss for them.
Luckily, the farmer didn’t need to worry about his crops while recovering in the hospital thanks. According to CNN affiliate KFYR, about 60 farmers in Divide County banded together to help him, using all their own equipment. “I talked to a couple of farmers, got their equipment, and then other people just started calling and we had equipment offered from all over the place in the county, and their workers to go with it,” family friend Jenna Binde told the publication.
Over 60 members (neighbors, friends, and family) in Unhjem’s community immediately banded together to help Unhjem out after hearing about his situation. They brought 11 combines, 6 grain carts, and 15 semis to get his crops in the bin. Those farmers said that it was just common sense to help the family in their time of need as letting the crops go unharvested would’ve been a big loss for them. “Everybody knows the Unhjems, and they’re good people and good in the community, and just kind of the farming way of life too. You help your neighbor out when they need it, and don’t expect anything in return,” said Binde.
A community member named Don Anderson shared pics from the incredible harvesting fest on Facebook, revealing that it took the farmer a little over seven hours to cover 1000 acres of Unhjem’s farm. He wrote: “You reap what you sow! That’s the old saying that can apply to a lot of things in life. Well, today it has a two-fold meaning – harvesting crops and helping friends! Earlier this week local farmer Lane Unhjem had a combine catch fire while he was harvesting South East of Crosby. That alone is a horrible thing for any farmer to experience, but in the commotion fighting the fire, Lane suffered a heart attack and had to be flown to Minot where he is still a patient,”.
He continued: “Fortunately Lane realized something was wrong with his health and had someone rush him to St. Lukes Hospital! Now that Lane’s health is being taken care of, it came time for his friends and neighbors to spring into action, which is common in small-town life. Approximately 40 to 50 farmers, driving combines, pulling grain carts, driving semis, and various other harvest related items, converged on the Unhjem farmstead and they will take care of harvest for Lane and his family today. I believe there were about a dozen combines involved,”.
“The Unhjems have a beautiful crop that will be safe in the bins today, and more importantly they have the comfort of knowing that they have a community of friends that are helping, praying, and doing whatever they can to help them get through this tough time. What a great sense of pride we can all have knowing that when we face something like this, we’re not alone. Kudos to all those that helped today,” Anderson concluded. Thankfully, Unhjem is currently in a stable condition now.