We’ve featured Verrueckt – the world’s tallest water slide – over in Kansas City a few times and said that it looked like it would be super fast and super scary, and today it’s become even more terrifying as it turned out that a ten year old boy actually managed to die on it over the weekend.
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The victim in question was Caleb Thomas Schwab who was visiting the park as part of ‘elected officials day’, where lawmakers and their families receive free admission and lunch for the day. No details about the exact circumstances relating to his death have been released, but Kansas City Police are saying it was an accident and aren’t treating it as suspicious at all.
That basically means that the water slide isn’t safe, which isn’t good news for anyone. In fairness to Schlitterbahn Water Park, they do say that riders have to be 14 and over and that 5’4″ tall and the combined weight of people in the three-person raft must be between 400 and 550 pounds, so maybe Caleb shouldn’t have been riding it in the first place, but it’s still going to give anyone thinking about riding it cause for concern, especially after its opening was delayed multiple times due to safety concerns. The park is still closed as police investigate the incident.
Scott Schwab released the following statement:
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Michele (his wife) and I want to thank the Olathe and Kansas City, KS communities and all our friends and family for their outpouring of support and compassion as it relates to the sudden loss of our son, Caleb Thomas Schwab.
Since the day he was born, he brought abundant joy to our family and all those who he came in contact with.
As we try to mend our home with him no longer with us, we are comforted knowing he believed in our Savior Jesus, and they are forever together now.
We will see him another day.
Damn. That’s heart wrenching. You’ve got to think it’s probably one of the worst things ever to just head out to the water park with your family and then your kid ends up dying on one of the rides. Fucked up. RIP.
If you want to see Verrueckt in action and why it’s a death trap, click here. It’s taller than Niagara Falls FFS.
