Boy Dies on Water Slide | Eyewitness Account

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.

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[missdarkmonster]

FOR ANYONE WANTING THE FULL STORY: Before Caleb was on the ride, the riders before him claimed the seatbelts were having issues. The ride continued to run. Caleb and his older brother wanted to ride together but the weights combined were not enough. His older brother rode first and waited at the bottom for Caleb to come down. His seatbelt came loose and he flew out of the ride, hitting the steel beams that held up the safety netting and decapitated him (breaking his neck in the process obviously). His older brother witnessed it all and began breaking down in hysterics. Reportedly, he instantly began screaming at the workers blaming the ride and repeating that he had to watch his little brother die. Fellow riders rushed to help but there was nothing that could be done. Had the park shut down the ride when it began having issues like responsible parks should, this would have been avoided. All respect for the family, just wanted to clear up questions.

[JulieMac]

Fatal neck wound? HE WAS DECAPITATED! Just freaking say it!

[mam]

Decapitated. The poor boy was DECAPITATED. This is why i don't trust those damn crazy rides..and the people securing it along with it!

[stonecold]

The park is to open the next day. That’s pure disrespect

[gamewiz]

Having worked at a water par for 2 years, I can say with knowledge that they didn't load the passengers correctly. 2 women behind him? It's should be heaviest in the back, lightest in the middle, and second heaviest in the front. Furthermore it is extremely important that to tube is properly inflated to prevent collapse

[icyminkah]

I went on this ride when I was 10 and at the same weight as him.. but they put him in the raft incorrectly, he should be in the middle with heavier people around him.. parks fault.

[P.B.Theriver]

400 lb MINIMUM. The boat usually travels around 70 mph but this time I believe it went much faster. Why? Because the boy was much lighter and was sitting in the front which allowed the nose of the boat to ride higher with less drag. Boats travel faster when the nose is up and there is less friction between the boat and the water. The ride is designed for a specific limit of weight, 400 lb minimum, but if the weight is not distributed correctly, the error will cause the boat to travel much faster and go air borne as it goes over the hump seen at 0:56. Proper weight and distribution of weight is critical for this ride.

[marli]

You NEVER put the lightest person in the front. They loaded this ride very incorrectly. (My mother and father almost crushed me to death as a child on a log flume because they were loaded behind me. I had the wind knocked out of me, and I was terrified of those rides for years).

Plus, they didn't mention in this but you had to be a minimum age of 14 to ride, and he was 10. The safety netting is only at the top, not all the way down. And there was some question about the weights of the women. Had to be at least 400 lbs but not over 525, and the weights of the two women and the boy added up to over 550. One of the two women was 275 lbs. She should've NEVER been on the same raft with a small boy....

[mikeyd]

There’s nothing they could do because he was decapitated. The boat went airborne and hit the net killing him. So tragic and sad

[bubbletea]

It still haunts me seeing the blood on the slide to this day..my condolences to the family.

[devinmccauley]

This is one of the saddest things that could happen to a family. I hope they find comfort.

[yellow]

I can see the blood.. this is just sick. Condolences to the family- nothing can ever take this back.

[emmastevens]

He was decapitated!!! It wasn't his fault! They should have worked harder for their safety!!

[emitindustries]

Poorly designed ride. Roller coasters have cars ATTACHED with wheels top and bottom of tracks. This one didn't, so the raft could fly up. A heavy metal harness holds riders in coasters, this had Velcro attached straps???Everyone who's ever used Velcro knows it doesn't last long, especially when wet. Safety netting needed to keep loose riders inside flume!! Big clue right there.
And the SAFETY (?) netting held in place with rigid hoops?!? That completes the deadly design. And the failed trial runs, poorly trained attendants, and overall disregard of engineering experience. No wonder it'll cost them more than $20, 000, 000 to get out of this mess. More like $30, 000, 000+.

[aquastar]

Omg they just KEEP playing that same clip over and over... some girl screaming.

[Seekingtruth-mxur]

RIP Caleb. Sorry this happened to you. My condolences to the family.

[moaski]

This story has been dramatically censored. Other new agencies are saying the seat belt came unbuckled, the boy flew into the safety netting and was partially decapitated.

[algunoscuenticos]

I'm not an expert in the matter, but I don't see the logic in having a second hill after that long and fast fall. For me a water slide so high should end always in flat with a little angle to decrease speed. With that second hill is so obvious that the thing (or a person) is going to jump, so obvious.

[ThePerchance]

This water park looks low budget AF. No wonder. Senseless tragedy that could have been prevented. My heart goes out to his family.

[rqeunyn]

I remember driving past that slide all the time. The first time we drive past it i wanted to go on it so badly. I asked my parents if I could go on it and they lied and said I had to be 18 to ride it. I’m so glad they did that now and realized the danger. Though I still wanted to go on it, I thought that since it was built by professionals it had to be safe. It was odd seeing that once lively park be demolished, every time you saw the park it would remind you of the incident that occurred there.