An act of kindness by the friendly neighbors of one farmer got the attention of millions. When Larry Yockey from Ritzville, Washington was diagnosed with stage IV cancer, he was devastated. It meant he wouldn’t be able to harvest his crops that year as he had to focus on the treatments that would hopefully make him feel better.
His 1,200-acre farm requested a lot of time and energy to be harvested and Yockey didn’t have any of it.
However, when his neighbors learned of the sad news, they came up with this brilliant idea of stepping in and having his work done instead of him.
Phenomenal effort in eastern Washington helping a family with a member battling cancer. An absolute treat to be apart of. The farming community is the best community. pic.twitter.com/RmdCvDYtcb
— Garret (@gpfaff7) 29 July 2019
Speaking to KREM Channel 2, Yockey said, “The cancer has spread to my bones, so I have a broken hip and ribs.”
At first, he didn’t want to admit that he couldn’t do the harvesting all by himself, but eventually, he told all his friends of the severity of his health condition.
“I didn’t know whether I was going to be able to harvest like I did in years past,” Yockey said. “I finally had to tell them, ‘No.’”
These are a couple of the about 60 farmers that are helping a neighbor harvest his 1200 acre field.
Larry Yockey was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and has been unable to harvest his field.
So this team of neighbors is doing 3 weeks of work in about 6 hours. pic.twitter.com/ShTFopb904— Shayna Waltower (@KREMShaynaW) 28 July 2019
Around 60 farmers from the region of rural Washington got together and made a plan on how to get the work done. Believe it or not, the whole field was harvested in just a matter of six hours. They used dozens of 18-wheelers and wheat combines. Mike Doyle, one of Yockey neighbors said how everyone involved was looking forward to be part of the work.
Farmers rally together to save harvest of neighbor diagnosed with stage 4 cancer https://t.co/213p1RURc4
— WGXA (@WGXAnews) 1 August 2019
Yockey was amazed by what his friends did for him. It truly warmed his heart and made his day.
“It’s just awe-inspiring to see how fast these fields are evaporating now,” he said. “Just gratitude. It’s not describable the gratitude I have for what’s going on.”
The story vent viral and people from all over the country praised the kind people who stepped in for their friend in need. Three weeks worth of work was done in just a few hours and it left everyone in awe.
If only there are more people like these neighbors, the world will definitely be a much better place as life is all about helping and caring for one another.