Poorly Designed Water Slide Decapitates Rider | Last Moments
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 12 май 2022
- Breaking world records is sometimes a dangerous endeavor, especially when you don't take the necessary precautions...
"Verrückt (German meaning "crazy" or "insane", listen) was a water slide located at the Schlitterbahn Kansas City water park in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. At a height of 168 feet 7 inches (51.38 m), Verrückt became the world's tallest water slide when it opened on July 10, 2014, and surpassing Kilimanjaro at Aldeia das Águas Park Resort in Brazil. The ride was designed at the park, led by John Schooley with assistance from park co-owner Jeff Henry. It was featured on an episode of Xtreme Waterparks on the Travel Channel in June 2014 shortly before the ride opened. Verrückt permanently closed in 2016 following a fatal incident involving the decapitation of a ten-year-old boy.
Verrückt was originally scheduled to open in June 2013, but difficulties during various stages of construction and testing resulted in several delays. Sandbags loaded into rafts during testing went airborne. The ride's final design made rafts reach a maximum speed of 70 mph (110 km/h). Verrückt was well-received upon opening, winning a Golden Ticket Award from Amusement Today in 2014.
After Caleb Schwab, the 10 year old son of Kansas state legislator Scott Schwab, died on the ride in 2016, amusement park safety laws were updated to require state inspection of all attractions. It was later revealed that at least thirteen other people had suffered non-fatal injuries from hitting the netting above the slide. Criminal charges led to the arrests of several individuals, including Schooley and Henry. The charges were ultimately dismissed with the finding of multiple procedural issues with the case's presentation by the Kansas Attorney General. The incident's aftermath, however, resulted in a rapid decline of Schlitterbahn's reputation and financial standing, leading to the closure of its Kansas City waterpark in September 2018. Verrückt was dismantled two months later."
More on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verr%C3...)
Join membership: / @qxir
Second Channel: / @qxir2
Merch: qxir.creator-spring.com/
Patreon: / qxir
Twitter: / qxiryt
Discord: / discord
Twitch: / qxiryt
Subreddit: / qxir 
Развлечения
Join membership: ruclips.net/channel/UCGHDQtN_vzFYJaq_Fx1eikgjoin
Second Channel: ruclips.net/channel/UCt93hxFmjppL5nLRAX94UrA
Merch: qxir.creator-spring.com/
Patreon: www.patreon.com/qxir
Twitter: twitter.com/QxirYT
Discord: discord.gg/jZzvvwJ
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/qxiryt/
Subreddit: www.reddit.com/r/Qxir/
*noice*
🗿
i don’t like discord
@Qxir do you realize you are creating anti-clickbait thumbnails a lot of the times?
Thumbnails so shocking it makes my feet tingle, and delay the onset of watching it.
But it's always a masterpiece when I do finally get over myself and watch it.
"Schlitterbahn" ... very German. We all should be alarmed! ("schlittern" ~= slide, "(Rutsch-)Bahn" in this context = slide, so slide-slide, very suspect!!!)
Thanks for the journalistic work and the video, Qxir:) ... and greetings from Germany ... **g**
The lead designer's baseball-cap at 2:30 has the writing "Verrückt" on it. That means: Insane!!! How creepy.
The most amazing thing about this is that it happened in 2016. This sounds like a story from the 70s when safety was along the lines of "well nobody's died so far so it must be safe".
Sounds like a ride that would have existed at the notorious Action Park in NJ.
Omg I started this assuming it was a story from the 70s
@@douglasw.7864 I legit thought it was related to Action Park too when I clicked on this video, that park's reputation truly proceeds it.
shit don't change much
*action park actually being SAFER*
well, maybe not….
🤔
I feel like anyone with even a basic understanding of physics should understand this thing was basically a death machine. With how much variance there will be in the weight and weight distributions of the passengers on the ride, there was basically no way to ensure no one would either slide too slow to make it over the hump, or overshoot and go flying.
For this thing to be made safe, there would need to be a solid roof that the raft could keep sliding along after lift-off, and the raft would need to be made in such a way that the passengers' heads would not scrape against the roof.
You can't just make a big ramp and expect everyone to slide down it with the same speed. Factors like wind, passenger weight and weight distribution will make the raft go faster or slower. It should have been solved by simply not having a hump that acts like a huge ramp that people can end up jumping off when their speed is too high. I have been on water slides that are like ski jumps, and the distance people go on those often vary by several meters.
which water parks have thing similar to ski jumps? Would love to see those
They could have used the air speed ratio of the African swallow!
@@lucas29476 I have personally tired one in a waterpark called 'Therme Erding' in Germany, but I have seen more. I just remember the one in Therme Erding because I actually tried it.
Look, nevermind physics. You don't have to understand any of that. All you need to do is see two very simple things with your eyes:
- There's a net over the track to stop rafts flying off.
- The highest point on the raft will be people's heads.
That alone should make anyone go "wtf".
@@tlh5677 or European swallow
It's incredible to me that people were getting injured on the ride before the death, and the park owners STILL kept it operating.
It says a lot about their greed.
@@angiev1840 See: Action Park
It probably shouldn't seem that incredible, this is corporate greed and limited (almost nonexistent) oversight. Stories like this are exactly why regulations exist. Unfortunately, history is full of companies hiding health and safety risks on a much larger scale than an unsafe waterslide.
When this video started, I fully expected it to be from the 70s or 80s. Not from just a few years ago. Mad.
Like twitch's foam pit
This aggravated me, I worked at this very park the year the ride was open. When I brought up my concerns about the ride being viable to kill someone I was FIRED.
I would have sued them
I was at this park the week before this accident happened. Seeing it on the news was kinda crazy. A park accident killing a kid is always gonna be bad, but killing the son of a state representative means you have *no* escape.
Edit: I've been getting a lot of replies from people who seem to think that I think this was a worse tragedy because it was the son of a politician or something. To be more clear it is a massive tragedy that a kid was killed, but if you killed the son of someone who can do something about it, they're almost certainly going to do something about it and now they have personal reasons why.
SOMEONE GETTING GOT
calling it an accident is being pretty fucking nice. this was waterslide roulette.
The slide was fun well it lasted
@@The_Wack no it wasn't
Wow. An entire week before. It’s almost like, you were there, but 7, 24 hour periods before. You added so much depth and wisdom to this entire event by being there a week prior. Thanks for sharing your unique perspective on this tragic event. Really cleared up some things.
I remember hearing about this the day it happened in school, as the park is relatively nearby. It was one of the only things that shocked me as a kid.
@@Affected207 bro he was a kid
@@Affected207 who cares
@@Affected207 you're the softie
@@Affected207 ok tough guy
@@Affected207 imagine calling someone insecure because they were shocked by a child being decapitated
A month before his death I was at the same park with my mom and her friend. I would have been 9 and I weighed the same as him. I had a horrible gut feeling about the ride and opted out on riding it instead staying in the lazy river. Seeing just a month later what could've been me was horrific and an experience I will never forget.
You had amazing intuition even back then 😮
Nice imagination
@@Bomp.. yes people from kansas aren't real
You almost opted out of life 😂 you'd been happier dead this world sucks
ever seen Final Destination?
I froze when I realized that the photo at 5:43 was the bottom of the slide filled with blood after the kid had gotten decapitated. I can’t imagine going through that, being in the same raft the people behind him probably got totally splattered with his blood and won’t ever be able to live normally again. Such a gruesome way to die poor boy.
Went back to that timestamp and looked and you're right, it does look like blood. How horrible! Rest in peace, Caleb. 😞
@@GLING17not just that. Those two yellow tarps are covering him. One for the body. The other for the head.
@@GrumpyKayYou do know that decapitation doesn't necessarily mean the head is ripped off the body, right?
@Cardiakk Yes that's called and internal decapitation. What's your point? There is no disputing that he was decapitated. The 'head totally coming off the body' kind of decapitated.
@@Cardiakk actually it is the very definition of decapitation
I was celebrating my birthday at this park a few days before this happened. Me and my buddies debated on riding this thing but I pussied out and I’m glad I did.
Followed your instincts. Smart dude.
Chicken!
112 people believe this bs story as of the time am reading this comment
@@NorthWestPvPlolrektnoob this person watches you through your window when youre asleep, that's how they know youre lying
@@NorthWestPvPlolrektnoob Oh wow, you're so cool! You don't believe anybody!
There's an inherent trust from the public to engineering projects; similar to trusting your doctor to know what they're doing. Rushing and a DIY thrill-seeking attraction, and then ignoring the few safety features it had is negligence of the highest degree, and it is baffling to me that the man was not imprisioned.
Yeah I’m struggling to see why? But then again any crimes that requires you to have a certain amount of money to commit to be treated like no big deal.
In college we had an entire module about ethics, clearly these assholes never attended it.
Never mind they never even went to college nor had any technical expertise.
Basically every law and even every stop light is put there through dead bodies. They usually wait til 2 people have died at an intersection before doing a study to see if it needs a stop light.
@@XShadowWolf1926 he explained why they weren’t imprisoned. They presented inadmissible evidence to the court. The court cannot property determine who is at fault when people bring evidence that can’t be used. That is why some murders get off or a slap on the wrist. You have to provide eligible evidence to the courts that prove the person on trial did the crime “without a doubt”. Doubt arises when your foundation isn’t solid.
You can actually check your doctor out, before you go to them....
A further tragic part of the story is that the boy's brother was waiting for him at the bottom of the ride and saw his lifeless body laying there after the accident. Reportedly, he screamed at the staff "You killed my brother!" Imagine having to live with that image in your mind the rest of your life...
Source: crack pipe
Video evidence of fake..
@@poguri27are you saying crack pipes are not a reliable source ?
That brother is going to be needing therapy for the rest of his life, probably. The anxiety he will feel at any amusement park would be intense. 😢
weird part is the head was never recovered
The fact that they didn't add an incredibly simple rail system the minute the first test raft flew off the second ramp is absolutely insane. Such a simple design change would've prevented so much misery
"self" inspection is an oxymoron. Real inspection requires perspective and independence.
“We have conducted a thorough investigation, on ourselves, and have found no wrongdoing.” Good day sir!
@@lukewalker3905 Where is that quote from?
@@justafurrywithinternet317 Every corporation ever.
Definitely a huge conflict of interest
Inspection doesnt have to be from an outside group. Unbias results of an inspection though are more likely from an outside entity
I can't believe this needs to be said, but self-inspections, *especially* in an environment where the priority is profit, NEVER WORK.
@@louisvandermerwe8080 never underestimate greed
@@louisvandermerwe8080 Dude, do me a favor: go binge some Fascinating Horror videos, especially ones concerning theme parks and building fires and etc., and get back to me with just how often they finish with something along the lines of "these tragic events could have easily been avoided had management obeyed safety regulations or addressed the issues when concerns were first raised, but instead they decided to cut corners to save on money, at the cost of numerous innocent lives"
"It's when you throw stupidity into the mix where things go wrong" Hey dumbass, the whole point of those kinds of requirements are to account for human stupidity and greed and shit, *before* people end up getting killed
@@louisvandermerwe8080 it literally took the death of a child for them to stop cutting corners on safety for profit. Do you think they'd have spent the extra money on safety features if a child hadn't been decapitated? Considering the numerous reports of people getting hurt on the ride, I doubt it. This was short-sighted greed, plain and simple
Correct me if I am wrong...but doesn't that mousy park do self inspections as part of the self governing plan it had with florida?
Sure it was!! Ask Texas power companies, oh wait….
Insane story, great find. It’s incredibly gruesome, i can’t believe some of these photos are public! Also hard to believe it happened relatively recently. The fact that two men who weren’t even engineers were allowed to build and operate this contraption is lunacy.
I believe the red marks on some of the pictures are rust, not blood. Hard to say, But as you pointed out, i doubt pictures of a bloodied slide would be public.
@osmium7738 I know this comment is old but while the top of the slide might have been due to water rust, there is footage and pics, (even in this video) where it shows the bottom of the slide. The water is red and there was a tarp over the child's body.
RIP to the boy. It was a great loss for the family. My deepest condolences. I know it has been a long time ago, but I knew the family would never forget this incident
A representative son. Interesting. 20 million for him to use for insider trading...
Qxir videos are great because he takes accidents with usually not many fatalities, but the accidents with actual horror.
As the quote goes, "The death of 10 people is a tragedy, the death of 10,000 is a statistic"
(Edit: Kurt Tucholsky probably)
90 likes in 1 hour lol
Mmm, no, not at all. There's a few channels that cover accidents, tragedies, events and alike.
Covering it doesn't make the cover good.
Good cover makes good cover.
@@archygrey9093 stop quoting Stalin
@@ernstbusch179 no
I used to drive by the park everyday after the accident living in Kansas City. Seeing the empty park and slide sitting there ominously, abandoned. Everything about it was just so eerie.
Ngl I used to drive by and brag about how the slide was the “tallest in the world”.
I assumed if Guinness was giving it a record someone would have made sure it wasn’t a death trap before letting people on it. The lesson? Never assume.
I was surprised at how long it remained standing after it was shut down.
I went to the water park the weekend after this accident happened. The part of the park whith the world's tallest slide was blocked off but most of the rest of the park was open.
Did you went in the park after it was abonnded?
Now they are planning to make a sports facilities and a Camping world
I live near here, & all folks HAD to see this slide everyday from the highway. They left the slide up, intact, for easily over a year after this child’s accident.
Everyone thought it was super disrespectful to the family. There was even what looked like blood on it almost the entire time… again visible from the highway. Some said it was rust, but it was HAUNTING either way.😢🕊️🕊️
This shouldn’t have ever been possible to happen. My heart goes out to the kids family and others that were affected
If I remember correctly, his decapitated body (and severed head) stopped at the bottom in front of his older brother, who'd gone down first and was waiting at the pool at the bottom for him. The boy then ran to a worker screaming that the ride just killed his brother, then ran to find his mum.
EDIT: We worked out I mixed with a different horrific decapitation of a child accident
Thats exactly what I thought, and I bet if it had happened to anyone but him they would've swept it under the rug
Soccer time yeey
@@There.Is.Only.Now. not funny
@@zoefioretta8806 You can't. You literally cannot sweep a death on a water slide under the rug, even with all the money and power in the world. The media will report on it and there is nothing anyone other than a dictator can do to stop it. Even if mainstream media is paid to ignore it, people will find out through word of mouth and independent media organizations that cannot be bribed.
@@There.Is.Only.Now. do not
Seriously, just seeing the "safety" netting... What were they thinking?!!? What did they think would happen if one of the rafts went airborne? Obviously, people would hit the netting and possibly the netting supports. Likely at high speed. Much smart.
Verrückt 'Safety' Netting 2024
More like the “execute you so you can’t sue us” netting
Looks like their goal was to cover safety regulations instead of actually making the ride safe.
but, but....its a "safety net" so its safe to use. -one of those idiots who designed it, probably.
@@Gizziiusa it was a perfectly working safety net. Worked like a good mosquito net it kept safety out.
What's strange to think about is that 100 years ago this was just things that happened. People regularly "engineered" and built some DIY fun device that was okay enough 99% of the time but every now and then severely maimed or killed someone. Its encouraging to know how far we have come and a bit frightening to see this window into humanity's past.
The footage of the slide after the incident with the sickening amount of blood still on the slide is chilling to say the least.
One sick thing I remember from this was that some people blamed the two women who rode the ride with the boy. They said they were too light or too heavy, or that they had lied about their weight and that killed the boy.
A lot of people just didn't want to admit that this park was to blame.
I went on this death trap two days before this happened. There is a large scale that the workers weigh your party on before you’re allowed to ride. Park is completely to blame.
Nobody said they were too light. It's a fact the boy died because he was not in the middle of the two land whales.
@@bigneiltoo Yo land whales hahahaha what the 😂🤣
Let me help a bit. It was recommended what age restrictions to set, the park removed all age restrictions. Enough said.
So uh, was the decapitation of the male child not sick then?
Through my long and illustrious career as a ride designer in Rollercoaster Tycoon, I could have told them beforehand that this ride would never work.
I mean, it worked, just, umm, not exactly the way it should in real life.
In reality you’re probably more qualified than they were
However, put a solid ceiling over it and it works 100% fine. Even if they have enough speed to have flown several metres.
Beware of bald men in sharp suits and red ties.
*me, also a veteran Rollercoaster Tycoon ride designer* I see absolutely nothing wrong, here.
I was there that day. And the truth is.... there was an insane amount blood when this happened. And then it took a little while for the body to slide down... it was brutal seeing that.
Omg!
holy shit
Oh my god! I'm sure you and all the others who were there will never forget this. How awful!
In the video above you can see the blood stains on the ride at 5:35.
this must be traumatizing, I can't and don't want to imagine what it was like
Oh wow, I didn’t expect you to make a video about this. I’m from the city that this unfortunate tragedy happened in, and I’ve actually been to this exact Schlitterbahn during the time that the huge water slide was built. The damn thing was huge. I mean just standing next to it, felt like the length of a football field except just straight vertical. I remember having the option to go onto the ride, but being someone that doesn’t appreciate heights, I decided not to. It definitely was a huge attraction though.
Schlitterbahn was actually a really fun place to be (although expensive) and as a young kid I loved being there for the other attractions. They had some pretty fun water-rafting-type rides and lazy rivers. Never had any idea how gross their negligence of safety was. If me or my folks knew about that, then we wouldn’t have gone in the first place.
It always feels crazy to hear people from all around the world talk about this. Kansas City isn’t a small city by any means, but it also isn’t that popular either, especially outside the US. I just wish we made news for something for favorable 🙃
Love your videos Qxir!
It was the guy who was overseeing that specific park
They went so far as to cover it up and to have life guards deny what happened...
That's sickening.
Should have sent them down the same ride ....
they covered up the earlier incident where they hit the net but didn't die, not this one that decapitated the little boy.
Faced zero repercussions for it too
That's what companies do
@@_Aemse it's still not good at all. Definitely shows a lack of concern about any visitors
I have to say this definitely is a terrifying and unpredicted way to die. I could only imagine what was going on in the riders' minds when this accident happened
I'm guessing that they were happy that their minds were still attached to their bodies.
It was a really fun ride but on the bump going up, we'd catch some air time really coming close to the netting. I remember putting my head down in instinct since i hate seeing heights when going down roller-coasters.
If I was on that ride, I would've expected a decapitation, and when you expect something that ends up happening, it's not as shocking.
The two women were likely horribly scarred, but I think Caleb would have been killed too quickly for him to properly register. I can only hope so.
@@princessofthecape2078 what a disgusting thing to say. A 10 year old boy that just wanted to have a fun day out did not deserve to die. Theres an inherent trust that the engineers made the rides safe, theres no way this child should have any blame put on him
I live not far from where the park was. I remember hearing about the poor boy's death and getting chills every time I passed by the park on the highway (you can see the slide from the highway). I remember it taking at least a year for it to be demolished too. All around it was an avoidable tragedy. May he rest in peace.
Yeah, my commute at the time took me right past it every day. It was hard to look at that thing.
Great report, RIP to the young boy what a tragic case which should never have happened.
My brother rode this ride not too long before this happened and told me about how unsafe it felt. It’s so crazy to think that something so awful happened so close to us.
I know someone who broke their wrist on this ride
I will never forget the day I heard about Caleb's passing. I was at work, my coworker had taken the day off for her to visit Six Flags in St. Louis with her kids, and that day is when Caleb died, I was listening to the news at lunch and all I could think about was my coworker, even tho they were at Six Flags and not at Schlitterbahn, it was all too close to home. I was horrified to hear that it was a decapitation. I tried telling my friends and family about how crazy it was for this to happen, and everyone was just like, "Oh well, you know, sometimes accidents happen." I felt like no one was understanding the huge amount of negligence that was at play. No family should lose their loved ones while relaxing in an amusement park, it's just not right.
Calling this an "accident" is like calling a fatal drunk driving hit-and-run a "fender bender". There was that one engineer tried to warn people. Multiple serious injuries were further warnings that everyone also ignored. And the ultimate twist is that the child victim's father was the politician instrumental in dismantling regulations and oversight so that literal amateurs would build the slide and open it as quickly as possible. This was all totally preventable.
@@marcussantiago Interesting, I didn't know Caleb's father had anything to do with dismantling safety regulations, what a terrible consequence he suffered. And, yeah, you're preaching to the choir about this being called an "accident," hence my entire original post...
Agreed. Negligence is not excusable.
@@marcussantiago True
I'll never go on an extreme waterslide again, say for a toilet bowl one, but even then, maybe not.
Thank you for covering this.
Seeing the ride creators laughing hysterically on the travel channel 7:35 when the raft launched made my blood boil.
its horrifying to imagine having to go down the rest of the ride, covered in blood, the beheaded body still in the seat infront of you. you know he wont survive. his head is gone. thats some seriously traumatic crap right there
Yeah that and the women had their own broken bones to worry about. They were all thrown and the boy lost his head being in the lead.
With the speed, and the pain, they probably didn't really realize what happened until they reach the water
His body came out of the raft and came down behind them, and the ride is 17 sec long. The women had their eyes closed and didnt even see what parts of caleb hit them in their face. They only saw theu were covered in blood when they got to the bottom. That still sucks go, because you have to get somewhere to rinse it off and answer questions along the way.
@@Pixiuchu not everyone is like you tho
@@thureintun1687 I mean most people are, or at least most normal people. We see blood, we think of danger. That's why we get scared instead of disgusted about seeing real blood in front of us.
I actually worked for the company for two summers and the owners were definitely sketchy. Turns out they ended up being big time drug dealers down here and the family ended up going to jail for a while. The park was put under new management my last summer there but things really didn’t seem like they changed
So it was a drug laundering operation?
Did they end up selling all their other parks too? I know he mentions that at the end of the video but was that all they had? I guess my question is: is Jeff Henry out of the water park business now?
Really? I worked at THE original Schlitterbahn Waterpark in New Braunfels, Texas, for two years before the Henry family sold to Cedar Fair. I didn't hear anything about drug deals or nothing but I did hear that this incident was practically the reason they sold out. Rumor even had it when Cedar Fair was buying the parks that the Henry family tried giving them Kansas Park for free but Cedar Fair turned it down because of the parks history.
You got a source on them getting arrested because I can't find anything?
@jack leballs FDT!
I have heard the vague details of this story before but nearly spit out my drink when the park was revealed to be schlitterbahn. I grew up in Texas and most of my fellow highschoolers work at schlitterbahn including my own brother. It’s just crazy that a water park so dear and known to me would have this kind of controversy under its belt.
dude, texas owns a lot of controversy lol
I remember when this happened, even though I live in another State. Thank you for this video. I never knew what and why it happened, and the aftermath. Now I do. Thanks.
8:54 "Sadly, it took the death of a 10 year old boy to force them to act"
I have a saying my friend that rings true here; The stop sign at the busy school intersection is always put up, *after* the kid gets hit.
I also have a similar saying, though about safety procedures in operation of aviation and military equipment
-especially follow the safety procedures that seem unreasonable, for they are likely written in blood
@@alperakyuz9702
Either that or they were just written by bureаucrats with too much time on their hands.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
so basically, rules and regulations are written by blood
@@sagnost that’s fucked up..
FAKE PROPAGANDA 10 YEAR OLD NEVER EXISTED
It’s crazy to me that something like this could happen in 2016. Absolutely wild
Kansas sacrifices alot of people
@@sergiomartinjrguevara I'm listening.
Just like Owen Hart the WEE /WWF wrestler
America is not a functioning society, please understand
Give how bad 2016 was, it wasn't that surprising.
The guys who made this ride clearly didn't play Roller Coaster Tycoon 2
This is definitely horrific for this child to die this way, condolences to this heartbroken family, no amount of money could ever ease they’re pain!
His Dad is our Secretary of State currently in kansas. Had he not sued for the details of how horrible this slide really was we may not have ever known. This is a tragedy but also criminal imo. They knew it was dangerous and did nothing.
While I feel incredibly sorry for him and his family, as no parent should ever outlive their child, there still exists a sick irony in this situation in that he was a state representative who presumably was involved in the passing of the bill that allowed the park to self-inspect in the first place. I hope that I'm wrong (in that he voted the other way) and that this father doesn't have to live with that kind of guilt, but one thing that I do know is that a lot of pockets were probably lined to push that shit through. But that's the US for you - if individuals need help, well fuck them; but a large company with lots of money needs help and legislators and tax men will beat their door down to be first in line. Make no mistake - we're as corrupt as they come.
@@tryingtotryistrying honestly there are an awful lot of people here who are just as disillusioned with the US government as with anyone else. The problem is that we're kinda trapped in it, if we want to live here. Our government is set up to favor a two-party system, yes there are other political parties that exist, but everyone basically knows that they're just there to represent a "good effort" at the democratic process, ie representing all voices, but they don't have any real shot at power or making changes. The real power lies in the two main parties, Democrat and Republican, and both are as rotten and corrupt as the other. The country just swings between the two - one of them fucks up stuff for a while, people get unhappy and elect the other, who fucks stuff up for a while, and the process repeats. And one of the key things that keeps people distracted from what's really going on, like the world's biggest and worst magician, is pointing the finger at other countries like Afghanistan or Iraq or Iran or Russia or China or North Korea, and saying "no they're the bad guys!".... It's all bullshit, man. I'd be surprised if the US had another 50-100 years left in it, operating like it does.
I'm not saying there aren't some real benefits to living here, there definitely are...but the people who sit here and say that we've got more freedom than anyone else, more of a voice than anyone else - they're just fooling themselves, or they're rich. Money is the only thing that really talks here, just like anywhere else in the world.
@@tryingtotryistrying oh dont worry, alot of us call the US an oligarchy
@@pizzlerot2730 you are absolutely correct.
makes me sick, someones son died due to the negluate
I feel so bad for the other passengers on the ride, as well as the older brother. Couldn't imagine the horror they witnessed
They prob didn't see much as their jaws were dislocated, none the less terrifying but they probably blacked out and or it just happened so fast I don't think they would have seen worst, the spectators are my guess would be more terrified. Gruesome all the way around, just a comment as to what you said.
@@anthonynye1747 I mean, still. Even if they were conscious, it probably was pretty horrifying. I'd assume they were conscious at least prior to both of them becoming injured
@@anthonynye1747 Nah they were probably fully conscious when it all happened and experienced all of it pain and all you would have to ask them personally if they blacked out or not because you don’t have proof that they didn’t experience the whole thing conscious or unconscious really.
@@anthonynye1747 getting your jaw dislocated alone wouldn’t just cause you to black out lol. It wasn’t a car accident they didn’t experience blunt force trama to the head and suffer any sort of concussion besides the jaw. Couldn’t really prove they were unconscious or not.
@@dinodino732 didn't say I had proof bud? You're coming off as a know it all, said I commented not saying I know the facts you know so well apparently
From the video’s preview I thought it might have happened in the late 80’s but damn… 2016! Makes it even scarier to hear
As gruesome as this series is I love it. It really shows how short sighted people can be and/or how little mistakes can have huge impacts. Documenting our mistakes so that we might learn from them.
Thank you for the support
RUclips lets you flex and support at the same time 🗿
@@tylern6420 lmao
@@tylern6420 How do you do that?
@@yers7638 Super Thanks
This is the reason why certified engineers and safety inspectors exist. This is the reason why you should listen to them when they point out problems.
Lmao @ you trusting the "safety" of the government.
Pathetic.
@@justtime6736 You mean as opposed to trusting the "safety" proposed by the 2 idiots that ultimately got this kid killed? Foolish rhetoric, at best.
@@justtime6736 It's always the non-government inspectors who get people killed.
Tell that to Stockton Rush.
Oh wait, you can't. He's dead.
@@justtime6736
"duh duh muh gubermint"
Yeah, the free market will determine what's safe. After multiple people are seriously injured and a 10 year old is killed, they'll just shut down the ride.
Freedom!
Great overview and history lesson!
I remember being driven from the Kansas City airport with my dad when I went to visit him and every time we passed this water park, me and him would get so excited to go. We never could because we were broke and I wasn’t there for long enough, but we finally decided to go and at one time. Right when we were about to this, this accident occurred. It was the same day we had booked tickets for ;;;;
Driving past the still standing slide after the tragedy always made chills go down my spine. I’m glad it’s gone now
So it wasn’t just me, that thing just felt creepy after the incident, especially while they were tearing it down
You should have broken in to get a ride in before they tore the evil killer waterslide down. This could be a fun horror movie now that I think of it.
Didn't they leave the blood on it?
@@singlecell2498 that’s what people say around here. I don’t remember seeing blood but I don’t doubt it
@@sunkist1309 disgusting situation really innit
Me and my son rode this ride the year before this happened, the safety restraints were not velcro, I remember them being the same material as seat belts that they tied in a knot at your waist. The sheer steep vertical drop was MUCH more than I anticipated, I was thankful that we made it through okay without injury...
I loved going to this Schlitterbahn as a teenager, their wavepool/lazy river hybrid was so much fun. Shame it closed down.
I remember seeing ads for this in the 18 months preceding the opening, when it hadnt even built or tested. I was HYPED, and was planning on driving there from Chicago. So sad
The morning before going on a summer vacation around 2014, I remember watching the Travel Channel Extreme special and saw them talk about what a massive feat this waterslide was. But the scene that stuck with me was the rafts lifting off during the test run and the decimated sand bag dummies. I was skeptical. It just annoyed me that they didn’t seem to find a systematic way to solve the whole weight distribution problem, and I, pretty underweight at the time, thought I would be scared to be too light on a ride that would literally kill you if you were. When this death came up in the news years later, I had already guessed at what happened.
I actually heard that the little boy's older brother was waiting at the bottom and saw the whole thing. To me, that's the worst part.
Oh my God I remember my parents talking about this back when it happened and it scared me so much
They're building apartments on the land where the park used to be, the company I work for is doing the HVAC. I'm reminded of this incident often when I pull on site 😔 RIP lil man
Oh man I grew up here! It sucked because this was like the one thing we had that was cool aside from worlds of fun, but the park was always sketchy so I guess something was bound to happen. Unfortunate though.
Edit: after finishing the video I have some info. There is a lot of blame on the operators (lifeguards), who often ignored safety protocals even the park put into place. Also basically everyone in the KC area knew something bad was gonna happen there but nobody could really do anything until it was too late.
There's Oceans of Fun and Great Wolf Lodge.
There's Renaissance Fair and Snow Creek for none water parks.
@@NextNate03 oceans of fun is part of world's now, but gwl and snow creek are totally fair. Never went to Renaissance tho.
The lazy river was poorly gaurded as there were periods of time when no lifeguards were available in a long long time. It really was a fun park but i knew deep down that something was bound to happen.
Always blame the lowest paid or lowest rank employee. American way.
"Also basically everyone in the KC area knew something bad was gonna happen there but nobody could really do anything until it was too late."
I'll point out the obvious:
If it looks dangerous, and you think it's dangerous, don't go on it.
Granted, to some, that's the appeal, but those metal hoops with the netting over them, were always an accident waiting to happen.
I went to this park about a year before the decapitation and left with a bleeding back! I was admittedly too small to ride, and fell too far into the inter tube before hitting speed bumps and tearing up my back. They had never worried about the people riding’s size…
If you all could only bother to research a little about freemasonry, then even you dont no longer want nor are you agreeing to still wear these SLAVE MASKS. Why don`t you all research?
Wow. Hope you're ok
Yeah, what Jay Cool Guy 15 said.
@@lilybond6485 ruclips.net/video/gtLR0XBfWJM/видео.html
Truthful words 100%. It is the world we all live in.
ruclips.net/video/lw-sLj7MIng/видео.html
I can’t understand how the morons that built this ride didn’t end up in prison with all the accidents that happened before the death as proof they were negligent! I’m sorry you were injured
Man this was a rollercoaster of a video for me, no pun intended. Watching on mobile I only saw “Poorly Designed Water Slide…” as the title, then halfway through the video I saw it was leading to a decapitation, then a minute later I’m hit with an image of a 10 year old and his dad. Horribly sad state of affairs, no amount of money could compensate for that kind of trauma. I hope the poor women behind the child who had to live through it and the injuries were also well taken care of.
I like how in this video it’s mentioned about how the ride didn’t have something that actually would hold the raft on the track because really if there was something that had wheels and a track the wheels guided along that held it in place similar in idea as splash mountain I know it kinda takes away from the ride being a “water slide” and makes it more of a “water ride” but it would have prevented this sad sad tragedy because no one should have to die while all they are trying to do is have a fun day at the water park especially a child that has so much life left to live and has barely gotten to experience everything life has to offer and all the normal milestones that we all take for granted
Might want to do a video on action park. That entire thing was a hazard. Even got a "gravepool" because people kept drowning
Ah yes, the fabled Class Action aka Traction Park. More like Doctor Kevorkian's Suicide Fun Time Land.
Would be interesting
@@cocacola4blood365 goddamn that kevorkian line gave me a good laugh
You mean by gravepool a pool covered in cement?
he should, except focus on the canonball loop. a waterside with a loop like a roller coaster. People would routinely get cut on teeth than had fallen out and gotten stuck up there.
Another part this story is his brother witnessed it & the body ended up in the pool of water below. So awful & sad. I remember when this hit the news.
Oh hey, a fellow K G 👋 I was just scrolling through comments and had to do a double take lol
@@hi_bored_im_dad lol
I remember seeing the bottom of the slide had red water. It was very horrifying to see.
The part that always stood out to me was how you could see the bloodstains extremely clearly, even though it’s a water ride so I thought they would have been washed away. And also just the sheer amount of blood too.
"You dont dare trying out the slide? You're just a chicken!"
The slide:
It's ironic that the park has a german name. In Germany there are strict regulations and the TÜV. It doesn't mean that there can't happen an accident but the safety standards are very high. This is so tragic and heartbreaking. Can't imagine what the family is going through. Rest in peace.
I was just in Germany in 2019 and they had a water park inside a hotel with no ride attendants whatsoever, it was like 3 stories tall. I'm assuming the German people are just inherently more law abiding, but still I was surprised no lifeguard was monitoring
@@peterbarrett5496 yeah that’s very usual here, lifeguards come occasionally looking if everything is safe and normally everywhere are cameras so one lifeguard can monitor everything
My friend was almost called at furstenfeldbruck near munich, he made a full recovery but it was touch and go at the time.
@@peterbarrett5496
Usually you don‘t need present supervisors for the normal ones, they just do it by camera. Just the extremer rides need permanent supervision, or i guess the more popular ones, to guarantee that people wait their turn before going down (which is otherwise usually signaled by a sort of traffic light)
@@synchronizedshadowpanopticon life-guardry is so incredibly German
Even as an amateur I can see that the safety net is extremely dangerous, it's insane the that it was allowed
Yes, its obvious that some sort of mechanism to prevent the rafts from leaving the slide was required, not a bloody net held up with stiff wire loops. That people are just allowed to build crap like that in the 21st century in a first world country is disgusting too.
@@cbcdesign001 Yeah!! Those metal supports!! Seriously?? No-one building or involved with the design saw a problem with that?? FFS!!
@@mikthe2004 even just the impact of hitting the netting at speed could easily cause spinal injuries... "Let's add some thin steel rods, it's not really deadly yet". 🤔
@@eternity8811 But don't you know safety nets are supposed to be rock hard? How else are they meant to stop you? /s
@@the_Overture shit. For a moment I thought you were serious.
Social isolation really warped my perception of the opinions of others.
0:40 that shit popped out of nowhere, thought it was a damn sponsorship
After working on machinery for a living and seeing mechanical failures I never allowed myself to get on a carnival ride again, this situation just sounds like absolute negligence.
As a resident of Kansas all my life, two things: One, I am legally obligated to take a shot every time Q says "Kansas."
Two, it's rare you see any coverage of our state on any type of media - so I'm always surprised to see it!
Bloody Lawrence! (Take a shot.)
Kansas City Massacre! ()
Dorothy! (
@Justtess Kansas represent! I guess? lol
@@mbryson2899 Bleeding Kansas is another I learned recently.
@@ziixxyy785 Our nation has an "interesting" history. While growing up I spent many summers in northeastern Missouri. You do NOT want to bring up Quantrill there, after a century everyone still has an opinion favoring one story/myth or the other.
Why would *Kansas* be mentioned more than *The Emerald City?* Both are fictional lands from the story *The Wizard of Oz.*
Oh wait...a business being allowed to "self regulate" resulted in disaster and death??? Waaaaah? I mean this has got to be like a freak one-off accident. I can't think of any instances of this happening.
Turns out a truly free market results in decapitations, who knew?
Self regulation usually works for large scale amusement companies in the U.S. (Disney, Cedar Fair, etc.) since they have a LOT to use, but unfortunately smaller companies are able to take more risks and generally get away with it. Also, to my knowledge water slides are usually more dangerous than roller coasters, which makes sense. There’s too many factors at play. I will happily ride any rollercoaster, but I’m a little bit more cautious about slides. It’s really awful how people can get away with this stuff.
I mean look at the old saying
"Regulation is always written with blood"
@@Del_S that's the funny thing. You need regulations in order to keep the markets free from monopolies.
@@bonda_racing3579 so true
This channel draws me in, maybe it's because unlike other channels, you don't use a tragic event to push the "shock factor" to stir the viewers emotions. Nor do you use biased words to control a subtle narrative. You educate!
Stupidity, greed, and lies...and the criminal charges were dropped. Unbelievable! And those evil clowns laughing while a test raft went flying. What psychos!
i like that you covered the history of the ride, i’ve seen this story many times, but most focus on the child that was decapitated, while obviously horrendous, the whole story is very interesting.
I remember when this happened. A lot of friends and coworkers were freaked out because they had ridden that slide several times and kept saying how it could have been them.
Were they 10 year old kids in the front seat?
@@zimboiii9025 "Dammit, I am this State's representative, and if I say my boy can ride up front, he can!" I'm not saying that's what happened.. But there is precedence of other fatal theme park incidents over the past 30 years that don't nearly receive the same closure time, restrictions, criminal prosecution or payout... but those fatal incidents happened to ordinary poor people.
@@attemptedunkindness3632 Can you name any other decapitation on a log flume? That’s why it’s got such publicity
What a bunch of losers. That's like a plane you once rode on crashing and saying "that could of been me". I'd feel pretty damn glad that I got to experience the world's tallest waterslide before it ceased to exist.
@@attemptedunkindness3632 it wasn't that it was "I'm a state senator and I think regulations are bullshit".
Love this video title. So interesting :)
i remember hearing about this on the news and being terrified of what i heard
This happened the year before my family were going to visit the park. While it was disappointing the local park closed and I never experienced the one thing all my other friends had. I’m glad it was stopped before more harm could be done.
Why did you plan a waterpark visit a whole year ahead?
@@mzflighter6905 I don't remember the details but it had to do with a planned visit with an out of country relative.
This is what happens when states are against regulations. Businesses care about profit, much more than safety. Allowing a business to do their own inspections is like getting a 3 year old to guard the cookie jar. Inspections must be done by unbiased independent regulators where their main priory is keeping people safe.
There is a different between obvious health and safety regulations for dangerous rides and stupid contradictory regulations for which way a door should open in a shop.
@@ARCANEmateCLAN Parts of the USA seem incapable of deciding where the line should be.
@@ARCANEmateCLAN It's not "stupid" if there is a fire where many people need to exit quickly, rather than get crushed by a panicked mob against a door that opens in.
Who regulates vac cines? Who is liable for damages?
Regulations are meant to control who can go into business as opposed to keeping people safe. They are the mafia's...I mean governments way of getting their cut of the pie without directly taxing people.
But you can be sure as hell we pay for Osha and the health department(to name a few) with our taxes. 😆
I used to live in New Braunfels (home of Shlitterbhan) few years before the accident I was dating a girl that lived near a Shlitterbahn scrap yard. I’d walk the railroad tracks to her house and pass by the place. The tracks where elevated and I could see over the fence into the yards itself. I remember looking in there and seeing what seemed like enlarged wooden models of a tall water slide. When the accident happened, images of the slide where all over the news and it looked exactly like that those models I seen in that scrap yard.
I guess those where there initial designs for the water slide and scrapped them when they didn’t need them anymore.
I just seen this and I half to say God be with and comfort Caleb family's and friend's though such a heartbreaking experience. Amen...
My hairstylist said that one of her other client’s sons were in line behind Caleb, and they saw the entire incident. I was told they received intensive grief counseling and therapy for months (thankfully).
Schlitterbahn was a cool place, they should have never constructed the Verruckt. it sealed the fate of the park.
Well that's disgusting, I hope the ladies son is better
They got Verruckt in the A.
I went to Schlitterbahn when I was younger and actually went down this slide. But the park wasn't all that great in the first place.
In Florida we have a water park called adventure landing. The one in Jacksonville has a slide that has jets of water that will push you uphill at a couple parts of the slide. It's super cool and could have been used here. Just make an incline that slows you down fast enough, and then jets that push you up.
I have a feeling that if this young man’s father wasn’t a state representative this whole situation would have been swept under the rug and no penalties or regulations would have been imposed. RIR Caleb! At least the last few minutes of your life were joyous.
I rode that thing weeks before the accident. Even 15 year old me was suspicious of the Velcro straps which felt they were on the verge of coming loose even at the top of the slide.
Schlitterbahn was on the outskirts of a major shopping center and highway, though the only thing you could see of the park was the monolithic slide shrouded by the aura of this tragedy.
One thing I did learn from engineering is such projects take years to complete and the Design phase will take at least a year especially for something as massive as this !
Ever since i became an engineer I am highly skeptical of most amusement park rides. They really need better regulatory bodies and experts associated with stuff like this.
I miss this park honestly. I loved their lazy river and never had a problem on any of the slides. This news was huge in this area. (I live in a suburb of KC Mo.) But I never really knew the backstory to all this which is just insane to think they could just let two unqualified people build that thing. Scary!
Right? I was baffled when i realized this story took place in present day.
These are just the kinda things you think we moved past as a nation like, 80 years ago.
They didn't "let" unqualified people build this thing lmao that's a slight deflection of responsibility, they WERE the unqualified people who built this thing.
It doesn't matter who built it. "Unqualified" people can build great things.
Anyone could have seen what a stpid design it was, I don't know why anyone would even have entered that thing honestly. Or why nobody ever checked that thing before opening, especially when knowing it was built by dilletants.
Their lazy river was my favorite. I still miss it, but looking back i realize how many design flaws it had. It was poorly staffed and many times i got awful scrapes and hit my head on the rocks. The huge conveyor belt was crazy.
For quite a few years after the water park was abandoned, you could easily see the tower from the highway. Every time you’d go to worlds of fun, the nearby roller coaster park, you’d drive by the tower of the slide, a memorial to the decapitated child.
Dude as a kansas resident this is nowhere near worlds of fun its merely by nebraska furniture mart and the legends worlds of fun is the OTHER way from that its literally the complete opposite way…
@@midnight_x_edits idk what to tell you man I saw it every time my family drove to wof
I usually drive by the park getting to a nearby shopping center, or visiting family. Every time we drove by it was different. The years leading up to 2016 there was progress on the slide. After the incident, we passed by the dismantling process, and now the entire park is gone if I remember correctly
I’ve been to this particular schlitterbahn back when I was a kid and always avoided the infamous water slide as I was scared of heights but I do recall my older sisters going on it a few times during its lifespan and seeing the whole event that happened we only went there one time after the whole thing went down and they had most of the park shut down with only a few things you could even enter a bit before it closed permanently.
The fact u went back there jeez i wouldnt Touch any Slide of that company
I went to that park as a kid twice. It was actually super fun and I remember everyone being so happy and outgoing. Word got around really quick about the unsafe conditions when construction was wrapping up and my mom begged me never to go on there. When people heard the news they were sad but I don’t think anyone who knew were surprised at all.
I remember when this happened and I remember losing much more of my trust in water/theme park safety. I remember it specifically being because I used to play the old Roller Coaster Tycoons when I was younger and looking at aerial photos of the slide made my instincts from that game-where you get the hang of physics through trial and error-twinge. It _looks_ like it could easily send people careening into the sky...
I wouldn't have even _bothered_ testing a build that looked like that in the game. I'd know it was way too steep to be followed so immediately by a hill that was so short, both in height and length, comparatively. Seems obvious to me. The fact that people without an engineering degree were able to design it and that they were, additionally, so stupid about this task they created, and somehow were able to get themselves into a position of doing, that they couldn't eyeball a baseline safety into the basic outline of the ride (i.e. riders would obviously need more time to slow momentum before you introduce such a short hill after _such_ a steep fall or they won't always stay on the track; a hill probably isn't a good idea for an extreme drop slide), and then also got it all approved, is truly astounding to me.
One thing that's funny in a weird way is that they could have used the game to test out some of these ideas first. The games aren't perfect, but they offer some bit of understanding.
I love the RCT games and I have to say, those games instilled in me an invaluable intuitive sense for physics and safety. If you just think about it, the fact that we can understand the danger of a design like this one from our video game experience just goes to show how senseless it was for them to have tested a design like that in real life and still thought it was safe enough to let anyone on it. Just by how it _can_ launch people should have been enough to make them reconsider the whole design. If anything, they should've leaned on the peak being too high and just have people slide backwards back down into the valley, at least the riders would still ve in the pipes and decreasing speed safely. Like you said, there's just too much speed going into such a small hill. Imagine if they didn't put the bump at all and just had a single drop, they might still be opened right now as a park with a record-breaking water slide...
@@pewpewdragon4483 I guess I just don't get why they were so keen on the bumps. It's not something we really see on other rides.
@@carlycrays2831 More hills for more thrills I guess. Totally normal for rides that go on rails, but water slides is just impractical and dangerous to have ups and downs so agressively. It really only needed to go down once to achieve the record anyway, so I also don't get why they went through all the trouble for the dangerous bump.
@@pewpewdragon4483 Given that they aren't engineers, maybe they thought it would slow riders down? My theory is that they really didn't have enough land for the landing, so they thought this would slow down the ride enough.
I’ve heard that the park owners started a rumor about the other passengers lying about their weight to despite all passengers having to weigh themselves in front of the life guards before going on. Companies would rather do anything than take responsibility.
rode it opening day, it was dope and one of the scariest things i have ever strapped myself into. RIP to the kid though :(
I remember there was a local park I visited a lot as a kid (40 ish years ago) that had a rather tall and long slide, with humps in it. It suffered from similar issues; if you went fast enough you'd become airborne on the humps, with the risk of falling off the slide. At some point they installed safety netting over the slide to prevent this. I was terrified of that net and no longer went on the slide; even as a kid I could see all manner of issues with such a solution. Sure enough, a month later some kid got their arm stuck in the net on the way down and nearly had their hand ripped off. Another kid brained himself against the metal hoops holding up the net. The slide closed after that.
I can't believe that actual engineers came up with the same "solution" for this water slide.
Yes, and ironically even to this day I've seen similar slides sending riders airborne.
But fancy installing safety nets with metal hoops* in the event riders became airborne. Sh!t, risk management 101 teaches to identify and treat the root cause, not to loosely engineer a way to reduce the harm it will still likely cause. Perhaps they should have gotten Elizabeth Holmes involved, didn't she claim to be an engineer?
*metal hoops? That was just a recipe for disaster.
@@thepsychologist8159Can't be that hard to add padding in the event of someone hitting their head. Or just don't invent a slide that yeets people...
@@infinitedeath1384 Padding? I don't think padding would have done much to save this boy. This ride was a disaster from the outset and it's why the design was not certified (fancy ignoring a professional engineer).
I can't believe nobody foresaw the dangers of the net and especially metal hoops! Didn't they ask themselves what would happen if someone flew into those hoops at high speed!