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Charles City teen fatally injured in ATV accident

  • About 150 people of all ages attend a memorial vigil Thursday evening, July 6, for Logan Luft, a Charles City boy who received fatal injuries in an ATV accident July 4. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • Messages are recorded on a memorial poster for Logan Luft. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • A fishing pole leans against a chain cross at a memorial vigil for Logan Luft. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • A floating luminary is launched in memory of Logan Luft. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • About 150 people of all ages attend a memorial vigil Thursday evening, July 6, for Logan Luft, a Charles City boy who received fatal injuries in an ATV accident July 4. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • About 150 people of all ages attend a memorial vigil Thursday evening, July 6, for Logan Luft, a Charles City boy who received fatal injuries in an ATV accident July 4. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • About 150 people of all ages attend a memorial vigil Thursday evening, July 6, for Logan Luft, a Charles City boy who received fatal injuries in an ATV accident July 4. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • About 150 people of all ages attend a memorial vigil Thursday evening, July 6, for Logan Luft, a Charles City boy who received fatal injuries in an ATV accident July 4. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • About 150 people of all ages attend a memorial vigil Thursday evening, July 6, for Logan Luft, a Charles City boy who received fatal injuries in an ATV accident July 4. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • About 150 people of all ages attend a memorial vigil Thursday evening, July 6, for Logan Luft, a Charles City boy who received fatal injuries in an ATV accident July 4. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • About 150 people of all ages attend a memorial vigil Thursday evening, July 6, for Logan Luft, a Charles City boy who received fatal injuries in an ATV accident July 4. Press photo by Bob Steenson

  • About 150 people of all ages attend a memorial vigil Thursday evening, July 6, for Logan Luft, a Charles City boy who received fatal injuries in an ATV accident July 4. Press photo by Bob Steenson

Logan Luft, in an image from his Facebook page.
Logan Luft, in an image from his Facebook page.
Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

An ATV accident that left a popular young Charles City teen fatally injured has resulted in an outpouring of community prayers and support for the family.

Logan Luft, 15, was involved in an ATV accident Tuesday evening, July 4, in Floyd County near Charles City.

According to the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, AMR Ambulance Service and the Charles City Fire Department were dispatched at 7:18 p.m. to the 2100 block of Gar Drive for a report of an ATV accident with injuries.

Luft was unresponsive and was transported to Floyd County Medical Center then airlifted by Mercy Air Care to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn., with a severe brain injury.

The family announced Wednesday evening on a CaringBridge website that the boy was declared clinically brain dead.

“With great tragedy comes great heroism,” the family said. “Logan Christian Luft’s legacy will continue to impact others through organ donation. Logan will be kept on life support until Friday morning as his recipients are chosen.

“Thank you everyone for your prayers, thoughts and love as we prepare to say goodbye to our super hero,” the family said on the website.

Logan is the son of Charles City police officer Leonard Luft and Wendy Luft, a real estate agent. They have two other children.

About 150 people showed up Thursday evening for a memorial vigil for Logan, held near a pond where he spent many hours fishing. Friends and family recorded messages on a memorial poster, shared memories of Logan and watched as a floating luminary was launched in his honor.

Logan would have been a freshman at Charles City High School this fall. The school district posted a message on its Facebook page and sent an email to families, offering counseling to any students who would like it.

Three counselors were available in the eighth-grade learning studio Thursday, July 6, it said.

“We know the Charles City community will join us in support and sympathy for the Luft family,” the school district said.

Logan was an honor roll student, a hunter and angler and a standout athlete.

As a seventh-grader he set a Charles City Middle School boys cross country record and helped lead the team to a Class 3A junior high state championship. He suffered a broken foot over the summer, but was able to come back near the end of the eighth-grade season to help the Comets win the conference title.

He ran in the Firecracker 5K race as part of Charles City’s Independence Day activities Tuesday morning, placing third in the male age 15-19 division.

Logan was also an accomplished wrestler. As an eighth-grader he participated in the Iowa AAU Kids State Wrestling Championships at 85 pounds. Even in much earlier grades he was already wrestling at the state level for the Charles City Mat Club.

Hundreds of comments have been posted on the family’s CaringBridge web page and on the school district’s Facebook page in response to the announcements, offering prayers and support for Logan’s family and memories of how Logan had touched their lives.

“It didn’t matter when or where I was, if he saw me on his moped he made it a point to beep that horn until I looked up and he gave a big wave every time! Just one of the things that made him so special,” wrote Susie Harper.

“I will always remember your contagious smile,” wrote Penne Thieman.

The Charles City Police Department also reached out on its Facebook page:

“Our thought and prayers go out to our extended family as the Lufts persevere through this tragedy,” it said. “We love you guys.”

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