LAKE CITY —The Lake City Community is mourning the unexpected loss of a middle school student.
The Superintendent of Lake City Area Schools, Dr. Tim Hejnal said 13-year-old Wyatt Mosher passed away suddenly on Feb. 16.
He said Mosher was a well-liked student at the middle school and he was active in sports, including wrestling, football and basketball.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) was a hard day for our students, our staff, and really our whole community, within the district,” Hejnal said.
People who knew Mosher and his family were also deeply affected by the news.
“It could happen to any of us. We all have kids, grandkids, all the same age. It could happen any time to any of us,” Mistie Martin said.
Martin said the sudden loss is heartbreaking, especially because it was so unexpected.
She told 9&10 News he died from the flu, an illness that had been going through the school since Christmas.
“His passing was due to complications from Influenza B. Mosher had asthma, and that was made a big part of the complication,” Martin said.
She said she knows his family through her grandson Noah who was in the same grade as Mosher since preschool. Mosher has even been to her house.
“He said that the hardest part will be not being able to see him every day at school,” Martin said.
Lake City Area Schools Superintendent Tim Hejnal said they found out Monday night and made sure they had support in place for staff and students Tuesday to help them process the sudden loss.
“There were times where we had probably 20 students in our media center, which was the area that we use that day. And kids just rotated in and out as needed,” Hejnal said.
They will have more counselors Thursday too. Hejnal said students want to do something to honor Mosher’s memory but nothing has been planned yet.
Martin said she and her daughter started a meal train and are collecting donations for the family after seeing lots of posts on social media of people wanting to help.
“So that’s why my daughter and I set up Venmo and the meal train, and then somebody else did a GoFundMe,” Martin said.
She said the meal train was filled up through next week within 24 hours and the GoFundMe has already raised more than $9,000.
“We have some businesses that have reached out to me. The Taphouse has put out a jar for donations. They’ve also given me a donation for the family. The bakery in town, To The Moon, they have volunteered to let the people that live in the city store their food there until we can get in to get it picked up,” Martin said.
Martin said Shoreline Bakery is also taking monetary donations. Martin said if you would like to contribute, you can also reach out to her on FB.