Farmer suffers a cardiac arrest, so over 60 neighboring farmers come together to harvest his crops

A group of farmers in Divide County, North Dakota, proved what it's like to be good neighbors when they came together to help out a community member in his time of need. Lane Unhjem was in the middle of harvesting his wheat and canola farm near Crosby when his combine caught on fire. While working hard to put out the fire and prevent his crops from getting destroyed, the stress of it all proved to be too much for Unhjem's heart. He went into a cardiac arrest and had to be immediately flown to the hospital, leaving his farm unharvested.

However, he need not worry about his crops while recovering in the hospital thanks to his kind-hearted neighbors, friends, and family who rose to the occasion and harvested his farm for him. According to CNN affiliate KFYR, about 60 farmers in Divide County put their own harvesting on hold to help the Unhjems, 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.

Community members immediately started coordinating an effort to help Unhjem out after hearing about his situation and brought 11 combines, 6 grain carts, and 15 semis to get his crops in the bin. Those who assisted explained 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.

Community member Don Anderson posted photographs from the incredible harvesting fest on Facebook, revealing that it took the farmer a little over seven hours to cover 1000 acres. "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," Anderson wrote of the incident.

"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," he continued.

"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. Unhjem is currently in a stable condition but has a long road of recovery ahead of him.