A 10-year-old boy, Caleb Schwab, was tragically decapitated in 2016 while riding the world’s tallest waterslide, Verrückt, at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City. The slide, designed by John Schooley, stood at 168 feet and featured a steep drop and a 55-foot hill, enclosed by netting supported by metal poles.
Caleb was thrown into the netting and hit a metal pole, resulting in his death. His 12-year-old brother, Nathan, who witnessed the aftermath, told their parents, “He flew from the Verrückt.”
Their mother, Michele Schwab, recalled a man stopping her from seeing the scene, saying, “Trust me, you don’t want to go any further.”
The Schwab family later settled with the park’s former owners and the raft manufacturer, and continued legal action against the slide’s builder and a safety consultant.
Schlitterbahn released a statement expressing heartbreak and reaffirming their commitment to safety.