{"id":45404,"date":"2016-08-08T08:16:29","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T12:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=45404"},"modified":"2016-08-08T08:17:46","modified_gmt":"2016-08-08T12:17:46","slug":"insane-tragedy-kansas-boy-dies-on-worlds-tallest-water-slide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=45404","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Insane\u2019 tragedy: Kansas boy dies on world\u2019s tallest water slide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Schlitterbahn_Verrukt_6073\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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By Michael E. Miller<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

Kansas City police are investigating the death of a young boy at the Schlitterbahn water park on August 7. He died while riding the 17-story “Verr\u00fcckt,” advertised as the “world’s tallest water slide.”<\/span> (Reuters)<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Like thousands before them, Kelsey Friedrichsen and Josh Foster\u00a0had come to ride the Verruckt.<\/p>\n

The couple could see it loom over\u00a0the flat eastern Kansas countryside.<\/p>\n

Taller than Niagara Falls.<\/p>\n

Named after the German word for \u201cinsane.\u201d<\/p>\n

The largest water slide in the world.<\/p>\n

It was a warm day\u00a0and Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kan.,\u00a0was busy. But as\u00a0Friedrichsen and Foster approached the slide Sunday afternoon, they began to sense\u00a0something was wrong.<\/p>\n

Amid an unusually large crowd near the slide was a woman with blood streaking down her face.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe figured, maybe someone got thrown around on the ride or something,\u201d Foster\u00a0told KCTV5<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But then they\u00a0saw a\u00a0little boy, lying on the ground, not moving.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"FILEThe\u00a0Verruckt\u00a0water slide is the world\u2019s tallest.\u00a0(Jill Toyoshiba\/The Kansas City Star via AP, File)<\/span><\/div>\n

As people wept, a paramedic covered the child with a white sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when it kicked in,\u201d Foster said. \u201cI started bawling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boy was 10-year-old Caleb Schwab, the son of a state legislator. Police said the death appeared to be an accident. Park officials admitted\u00a0Schwab\u00a0died while riding the Verruckt but did not say how.<\/p>\n

According to local TV station KSHB, however,\u00a0\u201cmore than one water park guest\u201d said the harnesses on the ride were not working Sunday.<\/p>\n

Details of the incident were\u00a0still hazy Sunday night.<\/p>\n

A Schlitterbahn\u00a0spokeswoman promised \u201ca full investigation\u201d and said both the slide and the park had been shut until further notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe honestly don\u2019t know what\u2019s happened,\u201d Winter Prosapio\u00a0told the Kansas City Star<\/a>. \u201cThis is not something we\u2019ve experienced [before].\u201d<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t the first time there have been safety concerns over the slide. Before it\u00a0opened two years ago, the Verruckt had to be partially torn down and redesigned. According to USA Today<\/a>, the changes were made after\u00a0rafts flew off the slide at high speeds during test rides.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s dangerous, but it\u2019s a safe dangerous now,\u201d ride co-creator and Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeff Henry told the newspaper<\/a>\u00a0in July 2014. \u201cSchlitterbahn is a family water park, but this isn\u2019t a family ride. It\u2019s for the thrill seekers of the world, people into extreme adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We will see him another day\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friends and family members recalled Caleb as sweet-natured and fond of sports. A photo distributed by the Schwab family showed\u00a0the freckled 10-year-old with a smile and a baseball bat slung over his shoulder.<\/p>\n

Caleb\u2019s father, Republican state Rep. Scott Schwab of Olathe, Kan., and mother Michele released a statement Sunday mourning the \u201csudden loss\u201d of their son.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the day he was born, he brought abundant joy to our family and all those he came in contact with,\u201d the statement said. \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This is Caleb Schwab, the young boy killed on the Verruckt water slide at Schlitterbahn in Kansas City pic.twitter.com\/E8PXViqa6t<\/a><\/p>\n

— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) August 8, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n