Tales of Survial On the Farm

What was supposed to be an 8-min. job ended up nearly costing Doug Omer his life. After being trapped in a grain bin for more than six hours, emergency rescue crews helped free him from the corn's grip. Omer now uses the ordeal as a warning to others who need to slow down and think before they act.

Stranded on a corn chopper engulfed in flames and wrapped in the deafening hum of 140,000 volts, J.P. Koop leaped into a crackling halo of current. Crashing into a smoking row of freshly cut stalks, Koop’s body went to jelly on impact, electricity surging through his limbs. On hands and knees, he made the crawl of his life.

Like a freight train through a veil, an opioid crisis roars across farm country. Nathan Casburn is a most unlikely survivor. In plain fashion, he pulls no punches and tells a hellish tale of loss and triumph. "Never, never believe that it’s too late,” he says.

In total darkness, seconds from death inside a makeshift coffin, Ed English gasped for last bits of oxygen and inhaled an accompanying cascade of black dirt into his lungs. The intentional burial of a young farm boy is a bizarre tale woven into a rich family tapestry.