A 12-year-old boy’s haunting words after his 10-year-old brother was ‘decapitated’ on a waterslide advertised as the tallest in the world have been revealed.
Caleb Schwab was 10 when he and his family, consisting of father Scott, mother Michele, and older brother Nathan, traveled to Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City.
One of the park’s premier attractions was the Verrückt, which held the distinction of being the world’s tallest water slide. The word Verrückt – a German word for ‘crazy’ – was designed by John Schooley and reached the vertigo-inducing height of 168 feet and 7 inches (51.38 meters).
Those braving the slide would plummet 17 storeys in a huge drop before being shot over a 55-foot-high crest. To prevent riders from falling off the slide, the chute was covered by netting supported in places by metal poles.
Yet an unimaginable tragedy struck in 2016 when 10-year-old Caleb rode the attraction. Reportedly, the young boy was hurled into the netting by the force of the slide, making contact with one of the aforementioned metal poles in a freak accident. Caleb was decapitated on impact.
“It was as horrible a moment as you could imagine,” one eyewitness told Texas Monthly two years following the accident. “I can’t begin to describe it.”
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.
“He was screaming: ‘He flew from the Verruckt, he flew from the Verruckt’,” mom Michele told ABC News in 2017.
“There was a gentleman who wouldn’t allow me to come close enough to see what was going on, and he just kept saying, ‘Trust me, you don’t want to go any further.’
“I kind of knew in my mind that I shouldn’t see it, that I probably don’t want to see it.”
In the wake of the harrowing incident, the Schwab family reached a settlement of an undisclosed amount with the previous owners of the park.
The family attorneys said in a statement: “All claims against the local amusement park as well as the raft manufacturer have been resolved.
“The family continues to pursue claims against a Texas-based company, Henry & Sons, which constructed Verruckt, as well as claims against a consultant who evaluated the slide before being opened to the public.”
Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts released their own statement at the time, expressing that they were ‘heartbroken’ over what had come to pass.
“In our 50 years of providing an environment for families and friends to gather, we’ve never experienced this kind of devastating event.
“The safety of our staff and our guests is our top priority. We are parents and grandparents ourselves, and many of us had ridden Verruckt with our own children and grandchildren over the years it operated.
“At Schlitterbahn we take safety very seriously. We support effective guidelines that increase guest and staff safety.”
Schlitterbahn Waterpark closed down in September 2018.
A tragedy of unthinkable proportions, we’re sure you’ll agree. Rest in peace, Caleb.
