Grief counselors are meeting with students at West Hancock High School in Britt after the death of a classmate following an accident with a boat last weekend. Sixteen-year-old Cody Schmit died Thursday at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City. Schmit was taken to the hospital on Saturday after he became trapped under the pontoon boat near the Muskie Lounge in Ventura.
A Ventura man at the time attempted to jack up the boat to help Schmit, but the jack kept slipping and the man stopped, fearing that it might worsen the situation. Ventura firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free Schmit and started CPR while transporting him to the hospital.
By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City