Farmers rallied around a sick farmer by putting their own harvesting aside to help harvest his crops in a show of solidarity.
About 60 farmers from Divide County got together to cut 1,000 acres for one of their own who suffered a heart attack after his combine caught fire. Lane Unhjem was in the middle of harvesting when he went into cardiac arrest near Crosby, North Dakota.
Act of kindness
Neighbors, friends, and family brought 11 combines, six grain carts, and 15 semis to get Unhjem’s durum wheat and canola in the bin.
When they heard about Unhjem’s situation, they immediately started coordinating an effort to help him out. “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,” said family friend, Jenna Binde.
If they would have let the Unhjems’ crops go unharvested, it would have caused a huge loss for the family, and they knew they just had to help the family out. “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,” added Binde.
Lane Unhjem was flown to Minot and then moved to a hospital in Minnesota for specialized care. He faced some serious setbacks including kidney issues and a very slow recovery process.
