The theme park with one of the most gruesome accidents in U.S. History is once again open for business. She wondered to herself if the Velcro straps that held riders in place were safe enough on a waterslide deemed by the Guinness Book of World Records two years earlier to be the tallest in existence. After delays forced the park into a soft opening in 2009 and a full-season opening in 2010, Schlitterbahn Kansas City, without any of the lodging originally envisioned, was labeled as a $180 million investment, missing the initial projection by more than three-quarters of the value. Todd Kohlhepp murdered 4 employees at the Superbike Motorsport in South Carolina, after the employees had "embarrassed" him and refused to give him a refund for a motorcycle. They dont even talk about it anymore, really, the young employee said to me, almost embarrassed. The tragedy happened on day the park offered lawmakers and other elected officials a buffet lunch, hot dogs and hamburgers. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article94254507.html#storylink=cpy. The slide will be closed pending a full investigation. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Updated on: August 9, 2016 / 7:35 AM / CBS News . A day earlier, she told reporters that Caleb had been at the park with family members, adding 'We honestly don't know what's happened.'. One said she had her eyes closed for the whole ride. KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A witness to the tragic death of a 10-year-old boy on the world's tallest water slide in Kansas has revealed gruesome details of how the boy died. The financial crisis of 2008 caused priorities to shift in many areas, including the amusement-park industry. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission. After a boy died while riding a nearly 170-foot-tall waterslide in Kansas in 2016, state attorneys brought criminal charges against operators and associates of the water park, accusing them of. It sounds like either statements could be conjecture.. Before they took off, I said, Brothers stick together, Schwab recalled to ABC News. You read it quietly and are reminded again that Caleb Schwab should still be here. All products are independently selected, tested or recommended by our team of experts. As people continue to try to figure out how a ten-year-old boy lost his life going down the worlds tallest waterslide, Schlitterbahns leadership, as well as the employees responsible for the rides upkeep, have taken the brunt of the blame. Republican Scott Schwab's son Caleb was killed while ridingon the Verruckt attraction at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City with witnesses saying a lifeguard was desperately trying to hold back crowds from the gruesome scene. It never really came together for me, the expert said. The Red Cross offers tips specifically for water parks. Tyler Miles, the operations manager of the park, had received seventeen separate staff reports during the 2015 and 2016 summer seasons about how Raft B required maintenance, including five from that week alone. Paul Oberhauser told CBS News that his safety belt came off while riding with a friend and his 9-year-old son about two weeks ago. with safety concerns now raised over the ride. Schlitterbahn Waterpark Kansas City was a water park that opened on July 15, 2009 in Kansas City, Kansas. Based on a three-year average of the most recent data, the chance of being seriously injured on a fixed-site ride at a U.S. amusement park is one in seventeen million, said Susan Storey, IAAPAs director of communications. "That was when my boyfriend said, 'I think there is someone else. As soon as his raft hit that first drop, the velocity of the fall caused Dueass strap to come flying off. When the time came to finally open the slide in July 2014, the hype had hit a fever pitch, with favorable headlines and print, TV, and video pieces coming from the likes of the Today show, ABC News, USA Today, Grantland, the Kansas City Star, and others. My thoughts are with the boy's family and anyone who witnessed this. The chute drops 168 feet, 7 inches, and the raft hits speeds of 60 to 70 mph. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and others involved, and I hope that they can prevent this from happening again. 'Until we have those facts it's too early to specify what we can do legislatively,' Smith said. Many lawmakers were at Schlitterbahn for Elected Official Day. Neither were related to Schwab, but his parents were with him at the park that day. Water Slide Death | Women in Raft With Victim Speak Out ABC News 14.1M subscribers Subscribe 1.7M views 6 years ago Hannah Barnes and Matraca Baetz both suffered facial injuries during the. Investigators are treating the death as a 'civil matter' rather than a criminal incident, a police spokesman said Monday, as the park and Kansas authorities pressed to sort out what caused the tragedy. Email us attips@the-sun.co.ukor call 0207 782 4368. The park was tentatively scheduled to reopen Wednesday, but 'Verruckt is closed,' according to the statement. Its German name means insane.. Brittany Hawkins, a twenty-year-old who had previously worked at the park as a lifeguard, had her strap come undone and came within inches of hoops and netting after her raft went airborne. Looks to me to be on the downslope of the second, smaller hill: Why is there netting around the slide? Even with the investigation into Schlitterbahn and Verrckt, and the larger questions surrounding safety regulation and oversight within the amusement-park industry, experts and lobbyists say that most rides are safe enough.In 2016, the most recent year from which data is available, 384 million guests experienced 1.7 billion rides at four hundred U.S. amusement parks without injury, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), the worlds largest trade association representing the global attractions industry. And he says, I know, Dad.. ', '(The boy) looked skinny,' she added. One little boy was screaming for help, Sanford remembered. DeSantis coming to CA as new poll shows him leading Trump. She suffered slipped spinal disks, an injury thats left her with chronic back pain. The safety of our guests is a priority, so in addition to the safety and what happened on the ride, our staff are affected. I really am. TOPEKA, Kansas -- A water park company's co-owner was arrested Monday in Texas in connection with a Kansas criminal case arising from a 10-year-old boy's death on what was promoted as the world's largest waterslide. Timothy Bella is a staff writer and editor for the Washington Post, focusing on national news. Schwab and his wife released a statement confirming it was their son Caleb Thomas Schwab, whose family were at the park with him when he died. On its way up to the second hill of Verrckt, Raft B went airborne, colliding with a metal pole and netting meant to prevent riders from being thrown from the ride. "It's dangerous, but it's a safe dangerous now," Henry said in 2014. Prosapio said Schlitterbahn does not expect any changes to the Kansas City park's season, which is set to open May 25 and run through Labor Day. It's easy! Witnesses have described the harrowing moments after a 10-year-old boy was decapitated while riding on the world's biggest waterslide in Kansas while other riders have told of their safety straps. In a news article linked to the news release announcing a 2014 delay, Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeff Henry told USA Today that he and senior designer John Schooley had based their calculations when designing the slide on roller coasters, but that didn't translate well to a water slide like Verruckt. The big slide there - Verruckt, or German for "insane" - has been closed since Caleb died. One is a line from John 3:16. They have not been named but one woman described it as the 'worst day of her life.'. The Lagoon at the original Schlitterbahn, in New Braunfels, in 1991. Caleb Thomas. That boat flew. 'There are no federal standards and so it really is up to the park operators, the manufacturers of the rides and the states to make sure this is a safe environment," said Deborah Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council.'. His case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Visitors flocked to Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas, to experience its thrill. Well have more details for you and we will share them, she said, but right now our focus is with the family.. But even with bad knees, nothing was stopping the struggling Dueas from getting to the top. (An) outside, inside investigation will be underway, and it will be a complete one To be honest, this is not something we've experienced.". Nobody expects anything dangerous to happen; maybe pruned fingers or swimmers ear, but that's it. He said, Its always on my mind: What if Jeffrey got on there?. "It is almost a concession that they screwed up. . A water park and a former employee have been indicted in the death of 10-year-old Caleb Schwab, who was decapitated while riding the Verrckt waterslide in 2016. Kansas City Police have released more information about the tragic incident, saying the young boy suffered a "fatal neck injury at the end of the ride". The indictment against Miles and the park alleges that Verruckt met few, if any, industry standards and that Miles delayed or avoided necessary repairs, even after the ride's brake system failed. Two horrified witnesses to the death of the boy decapitated by the world's largest waterslide have spoken out about the gruesome scene. RELATED: Gruesome details revealed in boy's water slide death at Kansas park. Today, all archives of the episode and mentions of Verrckt have been scrubbed from the Travel Channels records, and the episode is no longer available on streaming services. Records show that Jeffrey Henry, co-owner of Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts, was booked into the jail in Cameron County, Texas. ], What would usually take three to six months in design calculations was completed a little more than five weeks after Verrckt was first conceived. Verrckt opened in July 2014. Two horrified witnesses have spoken out about the gruesome scene when a boy was decapitated by the world's largest waterslide. Those numbers do not include other water park injuries or those who need lifeguard assistance without a hospital trip. Messages left Monday with Kansas' Labor Department were not immediately returned. What started out as a freak accident has turned into a broader conversation about what its going to take for the amusement-park industry, which prides itself on its safety record and confidence to self-regulate, to prevent another Verrckt and Caleb Schwablevel tragedy. That article didn't mention the slide . On June 16, 2016, Norris JJ Groves, the owner of a towing company in neighboring Missouri, rode Verrckt with his wife and son, according to the indictment. For decades, amusement parks have been exempt from federal regulation, leaving in charge state governments, such as Kansas, that offer little, if any, oversight. We literally worked around the clock.. The two other women on the tide, who were not related to Caleb, were still strapped inside the raft with one nursing a broken jaw and another with a broken face bone,while the first seat in the raft was empty, likely to have been where Caleb was sitting. RELATED: Water park, ex-employee charged in 10-year-old's 2016 death on ride, Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said in a statement that considering last week's indictment, the company is not surprised by Henry's arrest. She filed a lawsuit in Wyandotte County District Court. Steve Castaneda said Caleb Schwab, 10, was riding in the front of the raft on Schlitterbahn Water Park's Verruckt Slide when he fell out. But before the park closed for the day, the forty-one-year-old wanted to ride the slide he had heard so much about. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Not too far away, Nathan Schwab was waiting at the bottom of the slide for his brother, Caleb, to come down Verrckt. The concept didnt exist. (Baetz and Barnes, the two sisters who rode with Caleb and suffered serious facial injuries, settled with Schlitterbahn for an undisclosed amount in 2017. In 1979, years after buying Camp Landa along central Texass Comal River, the Henry family purchased the property next door and rebranded the resort into a four-slide water park. * It's for thrill seekers of the world, people into extreme adventure." *(bold emphasis mine) The netting on Schlitterbahn's Verruckt being removed by crews following on the ride death of 12yo boy. The ride, while available for riders over the height of 54 inches tall and who are able to understand the two page safety warning park employees must read them before they can enter, is actually meant for "thrill seekers", according to Jeff Henry, the co-owner of Schlitterbahn and creator of the Verruckt water slide. The lifeguard, who spent four summers at Schlitterbahn Kansas City between 2011 and 2014, recounted an unstable work environment where misbehaving, immature, and inexperienced employees were kept on to fill the parks lifeguard quota, while adequate water and bathroom breaks were not always a given in the stifling summer days. The front seat of the raft - where Schwab most likely sat - was empty. In September 2005, the company announced plans for a park in Kansas City, Kansasits first water park outside the Lone Star State and the fourth of five current facilitieswith grandiose visions of building the kind of towering resort with hotels, cabins, and tree houses that would take Schlitterbahn to the next level. THE10-year-old son of a Kansas lawmaker was decapitated while riding on one of the world's tallest waterslides, horrified witnesses have said. I tell Barry to say hi to Caleb, Sharon Fritz, sitting in her St. Louis Cardinals lawn chair, said of her husband. Dueas and his friend were egging on his son, Jeffrey, then eleven years old, to join them, but Jeffrey was scared. Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab, father of Caleb Schwab, in his Statehouse office in Topeka, Kansas on October 4, 2018. Her case was also settled, according to her lawyer. When the raft pushed off, the seventy-three-pound Schwab was in the front seat.Sanford was eating a funnel cake with her back to the slide when she heard a noise, almost as if a ride had derailed. The ride was simply too fast. Back on his feet: Determined French gymnast who snapped his Woman is thrown completely naked out of a moving car and Death toll from Hurricane Earl rises to 39 due to massive Autopsy underway on 10-year-old boy killed on world's WHY WASN'T WORLD'S TALLEST SLIDE INSPECTED? Media reports leading up to Verrckts opening touched on the rides age limit of fourteen, which, according to the indictment, the slides designers decided on after a consultant had recommended the age be sixteen. Time, is of the essence. Man, are they hitting that net up there? Henry asked Schooley, according to the indictment. The 47-page indictment pulls together internal emails, blueprints, recordings and interviews with key witnesses to paint a picture that Schlitterbahn marched the 17-story Verruckt ride in Kansas . I saw my friends face kind of drop, and thats when I saw it, Sanford said. Do you have any engineering or business background? If we mess up, it could be the end. August 2018 76. Yet, on the eve of the grand opening, for reasons that remain unclear, the imposed age restriction was eliminated, ultimately allowing younger kids, such as Caleb Schwab, to ride Verrckt. In early 2017, Schwabs family settled with Schlitterbahn and other companies involved in their sons death for nearly twenty million dollars. Caleb Schwab had been decapitated. He said that blood was spotted 'all over the slide' which had tarps thrown over it to cover it. Posted on January 13, 2020. Verruckt was certified as the world's tallest water slide by Guinness World Records the water park's website reportedly said riders had to be at least 54 inches (137 centimetres tall) to get on the slide. Boy, 12, dies on Verrckt slide at Schlitterbahn water park in KCK, http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article94254507.html#storylink=cpy, http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2014/07/09/verruckt-water-slide-schlitterbahn-park/12411769/. Five defendants are charged in Schwab's death: Jeff Henry, John Schooley, Henry and Son's Construction, Tyler Miles and Schlitterbahn Water Park (KC Water Park Management Company). In March 2018, a forty-seven-page indictment from a grand jury in Wyandotte County revealed, among other things, whistle-blower evidence of how Schlitterbahn officials allegedly covered up other safety-related incidents on Verrckt, and concluded that the slides lack of safety standards posed a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death or severe bodily harm. While it isnt unique for amusement parks to get sued for isolated incidents, the magnitude of the Schwab tragedy, and Schlitterbahns decorated profile, made the grand jurys findings of the water parks negligence that much more damning. When the group was over the weight limit, Jeffrey was relieved that he had an excuse not to go down Verrckt and hopped out of line. I thought we had designed the biggest, baddest thing ever built, a ride that could operate safely and never have a serious accident, ever, if things were complied with and if the thing was maintained and operated as designed, Henry said. Riders go down the slide in multi-person rafts and have to be at last 54 inches tall, according to the park's website. There are no federal inspection laws for waterparks in the U.S., and inspections are handled on a state-by-state basis. I said, Its a speed blaster. Well, it didnt exist. Im telling you, the ride that was built by John Schooley and Jeff Henry is not the same ride that that boy was on the day he died., He added, If I really believed I was responsible for the death of that little boy, Id kill myself right now.. And so it sounded like you know they were gonna do something about it," Oberhauser said. (Brownback, now the U.S. ambassador for International Religious Freedom, declined to be interviewed.) I always set out to break all the records, he reportedly told USA Today. Instead, Prosapio offered a statement.The Verrckt accident was a terrible and tragic event and we cannot imagine the suffering that the victims and their families have endured, Prosapio said in an email. The decision to keep the world's tallest water slide closed follows the death of a 10-year-old boy from injuries in a Sunday afternoon accident on the slide. Courtesy Schwab Family -- A 10-year-old boy who died on a water slide in Kansas City, Kansas, suffered a fatal neck injury, officials said, as a witness recounted the "horrific scene" and the "panic" that erupted in the wake of the incident last Sunday. Storey added: The industrys long-standing safety record exists because safety is our top priority., A safety expert whos worked with Schooley and Henry says allegations of misconduct are baffling. I've seen retweets of her post with comments about his head becoming caught up in the netting. Drownings also occur. A funeral for Caleb is scheduled for Friday afternoon at Olathe's Life Mission Church, Kansas. Nothing in confirmed yet. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Scott Schwabwho was elected Kansass Secretary of Statedeclined to be interviewed. It's a treat most of us have not only enjoyed, but looked forward to over the years. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. http://fox4kc.com/on-air/live-streaming-sc/. ), The only time I saw the slide run successfully was on the Travel Channel episode, but I wouldnt even call that successful, said the lifeguard, who was part of a select group of employees present for the taping after the park closed that day. He added: Schlitterbahn was basically hanging their hat on the Disney languageWe are so big that we can self-inspect.The initial financial boon promised by the Texas water parks arrival failed to be fully realized. The company also promised to aggressively fight the criminal charges against Miles and the park, and respond to the allegations in the 47-page indictment "point by point.". We have to understand what's happened. Castaneda said a lifeguard was trying to control the crowd as he tried to help but soon it seemed apparent that the boy had been decapitated. A promotional video for a show about building the slide includes footage of two men riding a raft down a half-size test model and going slightly airborne as it crests the top of the first big hill. It opened in 2010, one of five water parks operated by the New Braunfels, Texas-based corporation, Schlitterbahn Waterparks & Resorts. Caleb Schwab AP. Published: 01:53 GMT, 9 August 2016 | Updated: 16:37 GMT, 9 August 2016. Also from Twitter, witnesses are reporting that the harness system wasn't functioning properly prior to the accident. Because of heavy demand, rides are scheduled by reservation at the time the park opens each day. His work has appeared in outlets such as the Atlantic, New York magazine, and the Undefeated. "As soon as I hit the bottom of the first curve the shoulder strap just kind of busted loose," Oberhauser said. Over two years after 10-year-old Caleb Schwab lost his life on the tallest waterslide in the world, the amusement park industry has yet to fully reckon with the tragedy. Caleb Schwab, the son of a state lawmaker, sustained a fatal "neck injury" at around 2:30 p.m. while riding the 168-foot-tall "Verruckt" (meaning "insane" in German) water slide, the . In July, a court granted Schlitterbahn permission to tear down Verrckt, which is now complete. The driving force behind it was Henry, a high school graduate who spent one week at college and never had any formal training in engineering. According to the March indictment, at least thirteen nonfatal injuries suffered by guests who rode Verrckt were recorded in the 182 days the ride was open between 2014 and 2016, up to and including the day of Calebs death. On vacation from Lincoln, Nebraska, with her friend Melanie Gocke and her friends family in August 2016, Sanford, then a rising high school junior, didnt know anything about Schlitterbahn Kansas City. Police have now released. If we actually knew how to do this, and it could be done that easily, it wouldnt be that spectacular, Schooley said at the time, according to the indictment. A promotional video for a show about building the slide includes footage of two men riding a raft down a half-size test model and going slightly airborne as it crests the top of the first big hill. www.kansascity.com/news/local/article94254507.html. The blueprints for the once-projected $750 million development made the sprawling attraction look like something never before seen outside Disney, let alone at a water park. But the people who did float would share a pause, head shake, or murmur to look at the slide before returning to their conversations. The death seemed like an isolated accident until whistleblowers from Schlitterbahn revealed that experts . Schlitterbahn said last week's indictment is "full of false information," and the company also rejected its allegations that Miles and the company withheld information from law enforcement officials. Witnesses of waterslide tragedy recount boy's fatal fall. People on reddit were being as you'd expect ("Omg so unsafe I'd never ride"), but there were a few people who said they were there and that there was blood everywhere. A Schlitterbahn spokeswoman, Winter Prosapio, said the park had been shut down indefinitely and "a full investigation" is underway. During an October 2007 state legislature hearing, Kansas lawmakers pressed Mike Hutfles, a lobbyist with Schlitterbahn, on whether the company would be opposed to pursuing a requirement for safety inspections. Prosapio could not say whether the boy fell from the 17-story ride and she could not even say what time Sunday afternoon the incident occurred. I didnt feel secure.. And now that its been two years, things are coming back, he said. It said the allegation that Caleb's death was foreseeable is "beyond the pale of speculation.". She turned around to see what was happening. WHAT DO STATES DO TO REGULATE WATER PARKS? ), By the time the episode of Xtreme Waterparks first aired on June 29, 2014, the slide had yet to open. It remained closed today amidthe investigation. Off-duty Kansas City, Kan., police officers working security at the park called in the incident at 2:34 p.m. Statement will be out at 4:30 pm central time. In addition, the judge found that witnesses improperly testified about the 2013 death of a lifeguard at Schlitterbahn's South Padre Island water park in Texas, which he said would be inadmissible . 'Since the day he was born, he brought abundant joy to our family and all those he came in contact with,' the statement said. I had a lot of memories I just wasnt able to remember because I wasnt able to cope with memories. Tyler Austin Miles, 29, was booked into the Wyandotte County Detention Center Friday morning after he turned himself in, jail records show. KANSAS CITY, Kansas -- A witness to the tragic death of a 10-year-old boy on the world's tallest water slide in Kansas has revealed gruesome details of how the boy died. Meanwhile, an online fund has raised more than $25,000 to cover funeral expenses for the family. House Speaker Ray Merrick told the Kansas City Star Schwab's family was "the center of his world.". Winter Prosapio, spokesperson for Schlitterbahn, said the boy died on the Verruckt water slide, which is promoted as the worlds tallest water slide. Schlitterbahn water park death: Caleb Schwab decapitated on world's tallest water slide in Kansas City | The Sun News 'BEHEADED' ON 65mph WATERSLIDE Horrified witnesses claim senator's. Jess Stanford and Melanie Gocke were at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas, on the same day a ten-year-old boy was killed on the 17-storey ride last week. Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/. There, Schlitterbahn was born. Verruckt's 2014 opening was repeatedly delayed, though the operators didn't explain why. I want to be the first at the bar to buy a drink and I want to be the first to meet a pretty girl and I want to be the first at everything.. A Wyandotte County judge on Friday dismissed all charges against Schlitterbahn Waterpark officials, saying he found multiple abuses by the Kansas Attorney General's Office in the grand jury. Two lawsuits involved mishaps on the 3,000-foot King Kaw inner tube ride in man-made rapids and the third involved a man who said he caught his toe on a surfing ride and fell on his face. In the spring of 2018, Schlitterbahns park in Corpus Christi was sold at a bankruptcy auction after a company run by the Henry brothers accrued thirty-two million dollars in unexplained cost overruns to run the facility. Police said Caleb died from "a fatal neck injury." Another witness claimed that the child was decapitated . That is absolutely not what we would expect., Delays would creep in and cause a massive redesign that would stretch into 2014. When they went down, the Travel Channel folks got stuck on the second hump, so they had to do a rerun. The former employee added: After seeing that, I told my friends and family it was only a matter of time until someone died on Verrckt. The former operations director for Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas, and the water park itself have been charged with manslaughter in the 2016 death of a 10-year-old boy on a water slide. That is insane. Those showed more than 4,200 people a year taken to emergency rooms to be treated for scrapes, concussions, broken limbs, spinal injuries and other such injuries suffered on public waterslides. State inspectors reportedly last checked the waterpark in 2012, well before the Verruckt opened. By April 2014, the Guinness Book of World Records officially declared Verrckt the worlds tallest waterslide, despite it not being close to finished. Until whistleblowers from Schlitterbahn revealed that experts an affiliate commission and prayers go out to death... I just wasnt able to remember because I wasnt able to remember schlitterbahn death witnesses I wasnt able to cope memories! 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