3/24/2012:
Devils Lake Daily Journal reporter Stu Robertson gave an update on little Timmy Lang of Tokio, North Dakota, on this date in 1949. Robertson had profiled Timmy in the Journal, detailing the nine-year-old’s battle with brain cancer. With a fatal prognosis and over a dozen siblings, Timmy’s single mother could not afford the treatment and care the boy needed. Robertson visited the family and was moved by their plight. He wrote to the people of North Dakota, hoping someone could help. Within days, donations poured in. Neighbors donated money, clothing, food, and toys and the family was able to hire an in-care nurse. The generous folks of North Dakota may not have been able to save Timmy, but they brought the Lang family comfort in their time of need.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
Fargo Forum and Daily Tribune. Thursday (Morning ed.), March 24, 1949: pp. 1, 2.