A Harvest of hope: Farmer vows to return to fields
'In here, I'm healthy,' man says of combine

By Jonnie Taté Finn
jtatefinn@argusleader.com

Conley Van Wyhe, 51, a farmer in Hills, Minn., harvests the last few acres of his corn crop. He uses a modified John Deere combine because of his difficulty moving brought on by Lou Gehrig's disease.



HILLS, Minn. - Here, sitting atop a John Deere combine harvesting corn in a windy field, he's just Conley Van Wyhe: a farmer, husband and philanthropist.

But take a closer look, and you notice how his younger brother, Darwin, stands ready to catch him if he falls down a special staircase getting in and out of the combine. How his right arm can't turn the machine's motor switch and how his left hand grips a knob on a modified steering wheel.

At first, Van Wyhe is loath to talk about his ailment.

"This shouldn't be about me," he said as he harvested this season's last few acres of corn Monday. "Some people have it worse off than me. I'm just living my life."

The 51-year-old maintains, despite an incurable degenerative disease, that he'll live to see next spring's planting season. And next fall's harvest. That he'll live to climb slowly into his specially rigged combine at least one more time.

Two years ago, the muscles in Van Wyhe's wrists became weak. Then it was his shoulders and later his legs. His body hasn't worked the same since.

In May 2006, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease commonly known as Lou Gehrig's.

ALS attacks motor nerves and causes degeneration throughout the brain and spinal cord. About 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time, according to the ALS Association. No known cure exists, and only one medication has been shown to somewhat lengthen survival time for those afflicted.

Heather Fortin, the district director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of the greater South Dakota area, said more than 50 people in the region are registered with the agency as having ALS. The region covers South Dakota, northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota.

The association helps people with 43 different types of muscular disorders and offers support groups in addition to medical treatment and information. Van Wyhe attends an ALS support group the second Saturday of every month at Sanford Health.

"In the past six months, I'd say I've noticed a lot more deterioration," said Val Putnam, Van Wyhe's pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sioux Falls. "Like his inability to reach for communion. It's progressed rather quickly these past few months."

Still, Van Wyhe is adamant the disease doesn't control his life. In fact, he was one of 12 farmers across South Dakota this year to take part in a new church program called Harvesting Faith, which donates crops to missions in Africa through the Food Resource Bank.

Last week, Van Wyhe harvested about 10 acres of crops for the program.

"I really do think it's therapeutic for Conley to be part of (Harvesting Faith). I think helping someone on the other side of the world gives him hope," Putnam said. "I think he truly has never been a person who's wanted to focus on himself. The focus has been on helping others and making a difference in another's life."

That focus also helps him keep things in perspective, Van Wyhe said.

"What else is there for me to do? I mean, this is what I've been doing my whole life," he said of farming corn, soybeans and alfalfa. He also raises beef cattle.

"It's what I always wanted to do. It's what I want to keep doing - for as long as I can, I guess."

His wife, Nancy, admits the statistics are stacked against him.

"They say it's three to five years, though many people have lived longer than that," she said of the life expectancy once the disease sets in.

Inside the cab, Van Wyhe said he hopes for longer.

"This is a good place for me," he said, looking through the combine cab window at the vast cornfield. "It's better than sitting in the house worrying about things I can't change.

"In here, I'm healthy."

Reach Jonnie Taté Finn at 331-2320.
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