A 12-year-old boy’s unsettling comments have been made public after his 10-year-old sibling was “decapitated” on a waterslide that was hailed as the largest in the world.
Caleb Schwab, together with his mother Michele, father Scott, and older brother Nathan, visited Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City when he was 10 years old.
One of the park’s primary draws was the Verrückt, the largest water slide in the world. “Verrückt,” which means “crazy” in German, was coined by John Schooley and reached a dizzying height of 168 feet and 7 inches (51.38 meters).
Those who risked the slide would plunge 17 floors down in a huge drop before being hurled over a peak that was 55 feet high. To prevent riders from falling off the slide, netting was placed over the chute and supported in certain places by metal rods.
However, an unimaginable tragedy happened in 2016 when 10-year-old Caleb rode the attraction.The little youngster was reportedly thrown into the netting by the force of the slide, where he touched one of the previously stated metal poles in a strange incident. Caleb was decapitated by the impact.
“It was as horrible a moment as you could imagine,” one eyewitness told Texas Monthly two years after the tragedy. “I can’t think of anything to say.”
Caleb’s 12-year-old brother, Nathan, was waiting for him at the bottom of the slide. It was he who told his parents what had happened.
When her son was screaming, “He flew from the Verruckt, he flew from the Verruckt,” mother Michele told ABC News in 2017.
“A gentleman refused to let me get close enough to see what was going on, saying repeatedly, ‘Trust me, you don’t want to go any further.'”
“I kind of knew in my mind that I shouldn’t and probably don’t want to see it.”
The Schwab family and the park’s previous owners reached an undisclosed settlement after the terrible incident.
The family’s attorneys said in a statement that “all claims against the local amusement park and the raft manufacturer have been resolved.”
“The Texas-based firm Henry & Sons, which constructed Verruckt, and a consultant who evaluated the slide before it was made public are still being sued by the family.”
Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts declared in a statement at the time that they were “heartbroken” by what had happened.
“In our 50 years of providing a place for family and friends to gather, this kind of horrible occurrence has never occurred.
“The safety of our staff and guests is our first priority. Many of us rode Verruckt with our own children and grandchildren during the years it was in service. We are parents and grandparents ourselves.
“At Schlitterbahn, we take safety very seriously. We support reasonable regulations that increase employee and visitor safety.
Schlitterbahn Waterpark closed in September 2018.
We are certain that you would agree that it is a tragedy of unfathomable proportions. May you rest in peace, Caleb.
