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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Teen with 'heart of gold' dies in boat mishap
A Portage la Prairie teen died Saturday after he fell off a pontoon boat in the Whitemud River.
Jeffrey Wettlaufer, 17, was on his way back to a cabin with his feet dangling over the front of the boat, according to a family member.
"A current caught him and pulled him under the boat."
RCMP said the accident occurred around 4 p.m. near the village of Westbourne. Police said the boy was transported to the Portage la Prairie hospital, where he died of his injuries.
The family member, who did not want to be named, described Wettlaufer as a farm boy through and through, who loved his truck.
He was fast to help friends and family. "He had a heart of gold."
Don Oftedal took first-aid equipment to the scene of the accident after a camper from another private campground near the Whitemud River requested help.
When Oftedal arrived, he said there were about 10 people at the scene and several were applying pressure to the boy’s wound.
Oftedal said the teen was on a day trip to visit friends.
"I think they had just gone out for the day to see friends and do some boating," he said.
"They were doing CPR on him and controlling the bleeding."
Oftedal said the teen fell from the boat about a half mile from the shore.
Alcohol is not believed to be a factor.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
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