Harrowing story of 10-year-old boy who was decapitated on ‘world’s tallest waterslide’ – as family received multi-million pound payout

‘That was the best ride I’ve ever been on,’ inventor Jeff Henry said.

‘I know, me too, that was truly exciting because we really didn’t know if we were going to survive it or not,’ designer John Schooley responded – moments after testing the world’s tallest waterslide for the first time.

Four years later, 10-year-old Caleb Schwab was decapitated after going down the 168ft vertical drop in 2016.

The Verrückt – German for ‘insane’ – plunged water rafts at 70mph down a slide which had netting strung above in case anyone went flying.

In the end, it was this safety precaution which killed the young boy as his head was flung into one of the poles holding the nets in place after his ride became airborne.

He skidded down the rest of the slide until he reached a stop at the bottom pool, where lifeguards had to hold back crowds from his mangled body and the two other injured women in the boat covered in blood.

Caleb – the son of Kansas state Representative Scott Schwab – was enjoying a day trip with his family after they were tempted by free admission for Kansas elected officials and their kin on Elected Official Day.

A player on the Kansas City Mudcats baseball team, the youngster was one of four brothers and was described by his father as ‘his joy’.

10-year-old Caleb Schwab, player on the Kansas City Mudcats baseball team, was decapitated after going down the world’s tallest slide

The Verrückt – German for ‘insane’ – plunged water rafts at 70mph down a slide which had netting strung above in case anyone went flying

John Schooley, the waterslide designer, and Jeff Henry, the co-owner of the Schlitterbahn water park, was arrested after Caleb was killed on Verrückt. The charges were later dropped

‘When my kids were born, Nathan was my pleasure, Caleb was my joy, Alex was my delight and Isaac was my treasure. We’ve lost some joy. We’ve lost Caleb, my joy. But we’ll get it back,’ Mr Schwabb said at Caleb’s funeral.

Wise beyond his years, a five-year-old Caleb comforted him when he lost his job: ‘I was the kid who scraped the knee at that moment and he held me. That was Caleb.’

Mr Schwab – who now serves as Kansas Secretary of State – kissed Caleb’s portrait before making his way off the stage.

It was alleged that Schlitterbahn co-owner Mr Henry and his senior designer Mr Schooley’s quest to earn a Guinness World Record fast-tracked their gravity-defying creation.

Charged with aggravated battery, aggravated endangerment of a child and second-degree murder, the pair allegedly pushed on with the dangerous ride ‘in a spur-of-the-moment bid to impress producers of the Travel Channel’s Xtreme Waterparks series’.

Using sandbags to simulate humans, the inventors would test the 17-story high water slide’s limits in what the indictment called ‘crude trial-and-error methods’. 

According to Schlitterbahn’s officials, two to three riders that together weighed between 180kg and 250kg were needed to prevent the raft from going airborne.

Caleb’s family was weighed on a scale at the bottom of the water slide and again at the top but were told that they couldn’t ride the raft together because even with a third person, the combined weight of all three riders wouldn’t hit 180kg.

Mr Schwab – who now serves as Kansas Secretary of State – kissed Caleb’s portrait before making his way off the stage

‘When my kids were born, Nathan was my pleasure, Caleb was my joy, Alex was my delight and Isaac was my treasure. We’ve lost some joy. We’ve lost Caleb, my joy. But we’ll get it back,’ Mr Schwabb said at Caleb’s funeral

Caleb skidded down the rest of the slide until he reached a stop at the bottom pool, where lifeguards had to hold back crowds from his mangled body and the two other injured women in the boat covered in blood

So eldest brother Nathan went first – along with two adult strangers – and waited for his brother to come down the slide behind him.

Instead, Caleb’s lifeless body plunged down in front of him.

‘He flew from the Verrückt, he flew from the Verrückt,’ his mother, Michelle, heard him say.

‘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”,’ she added.

‘I kind of knew in my mind that I shouldn’t see it, that I probably don’t want to see it.’

Unlike neighbouring state Missouri, Kansas water parks did not need to be inspected by a state agency to be considered safe.

And yet, court documents claimed that ‘rushed project and lack of expertise’ led to the builders ‘fundamental steps in the design process’.

Even with the addition of a netting installed as a precautionary measure, the indictment said a devastating tragedy was bound to happen, as rafts were ‘guaranteed’ to ‘occasionally go airborne in a manner that could severely injure or kill the occupants’.

‘The allegation that we operated, and failed to maintain, a ride that could foreseeably cause such a tragic accident is beyond the pale of speculation,’ the water park responded. 

Wise beyond his years, a five-year-old Caleb comforted his father when he lost his job: ‘I was the kid who scraped the knee at that moment and he held me. That was Caleb.’

The indictment claimed that the Verrückt’s design ‘violated nearly all aspects of the longstanding industry safety standards’

According to the writ, investigators also say they found 13 people had been injured riding the slide before Caleb’s death, including two people who were concussed and a 15-year-old girl who went temporarily blind.

Two other water park workers – David Hughes and John Zalsmen – were also charged with obstruction of justice after allegedly covering up that they had not replaced a brake mat on the slide.

But Zalsmen’s attorney called the prosecution ‘sloppy’ and accused them of trying to force the employees to turn against higher ups in the company.  

The indictment went on to say that neither Mr Henry or Mr Schooley ‘possessed any kind of technical or engineering credential relevant to amusement ride design or safety’ and that the pair hid the fact that the ride was causing serious injuries in its six months in service. 

But Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts dismissed the comments, saying it was ‘so full of false information that it has shocked the Kansas legal community’.  

In the end, all the charges against against the water park employees including the park’s director of operations, Tyler Austin Miles – who was charged with manslaughter – were dropped in 2019 over ‘improper evidence and testimony displayed to the grand jury’. 

The judge said the jury had been unfairly shown clips from the reality show which debuted the Verrückt and had hyped up how dangerous the ride was for dramatic effect.

John Zalsman was charged with obstructing the investigation into the August 2016 death of Caleb Schwab but the charges were later dropped

David Hughes was also charged with obstructing the investigation after allegedly covering up that the workers had not replaced a brake mat on the slide but the charges were later dropped

The waterpark also did not need to be held to the standards of safety rules that came in after it was created, despite the state’s expert witness repeatedly referring to them during the trial.

The expert then went on to improperly reference another death at a Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Texas in 2013.

Winter Prosapio, Schlitterbahn’s director of communication said the ‘the indictment uses quoted statements from a reality TV show that was scripted for dramatic effect that in no way reflects the design and construction of the ride’.

‘Quotes were purported to be from definitive design meetings, when they were, in fact, “acting”.

‘The allegation that we operated, and failed to maintain, a ride that could foreseeably cause such a tragic accident is beyond the pale of speculation.

‘Many of us, and our children and grandchildren, have ridden the ride with complete confidence as to its safety. Our operational mantra has been and will forever be Safety First.’

When the charges were dropped, the Kansas attorney general said they were ‘obviously disappointed and respectfully disagree with the court’s decision’ but added that they would be considering whether they would pursue new criminal charges.

Eventually, Schwab’s family settled with the park and various companies connected to the slide for £15.1million ($20million).

The Kansas City park was closed in 2018, with the Verrückt demolished as soon as the investigation was finished.

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