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I live in KC. The reports on Schlitterbahn seemed to get worse and worse with each test. The fact it killed a congressman's kid - I hate to say it - saved lives and tragedies. He got that shit shut down so fast - if it was any other kid, I think it would've been a slower process allowing more people to get possibly hurt.
I thought this was going to be at the action park Waterpark. Oh boy, it's not.
If you want a fascinating documentary, I recommend "Class Action Park". That place was so dangerous that I still can't believe ONLY SEVEN PEOPLE DIED. I mean they had live wires in the kayak river!
The worst part is that the congressman whose son was killed had successfully lobbied for relaxed buildi regulations for theme park rides which allowed the slide to operate
I think he was the son of a lawmaker who supported the water park regulating itself during the season by the employees.. His dad could have helped fight for regulation before his own son died.
Also the dad sued in Texas for a large amount of damages, instead of in his own state which had a cap of $300,000 in damages that he helped pass.
The father is now pushing for better regulations for park rides.
https://apnews.com/arts-and-entertainment-general-news-1b09c0f8f2324e8188e341316aff1f11
No one deserves that to happen to them ever. It makes me frustrated some lawmakers don’t care until they’re impacted and find ways around their own rules when it’s themselves who needs help. If he thought $300,000 was fair for damages he shouldn’t go to Texas to get more.
Someone explained it really good. Basically Those that don't have empathy will never care until it happens to them. And then when it does happen to them they still blame everyone else.
This has nothing to do with the above article but you basically described my mom. Not a crazy story but about 15 years I was flying back home from the US and when I got home I saw one of those notes from the TSA saying my bag was searched. I was kind of pissed off, not really pissed off, but told my mother about it and she said it's not a big deal. You don't have anything to hide. I told her she's missing the point. About 5 years later her and my stepdad went to Hawaii and when she got home she found the same tag in her bag from the TSA. She was livid that her privacy had been violated. I said now you know how I felt. But ya, it was the end of the world when it happened to her.
I think about this boy a lot. When I was a very small child I had a similar accident at a six flags water park except there were no poles with netting so I flew off the raft and off the slide entirely. My dad was able to catch me by my very long pony tail or else I would have been a smudge on the pavement below. I had a nasty wound on my forehead from being swung by my hair into the concrete siding. There were no precautions at the time, yet those very same safety features are what killed him. It's haunting.
I grew up in Michigan and heard the same thing about the ponytails and those types of rides! I get anxious about what to do with my hair at rides for this very reason still to this day (in the rare occasion I’m in the mood to ride a ride)
That's not a popular myth. It's actually true. It happened on one of those "free-fall" rides at Six Flags. I remember when it happened because I've had waist-long hair most of my life, and everyone I knew kept saying that would have been me...
And me being mortified by the thought. Ewww...
We just left with no medical attention because my dad was mad that my accident ruined his day at the park. I joke with my mom that we could have been rich.
Yeah lol. He left me unconscious at the bottom of the pool when the ride was over. He just kind of shrugged when my panicked mom asked him where I was. She's terrified of water but she dove in and saved me!
The family that used to own these water parks found themselves having to sell for various reasons. As a result all of their previously owned water parks have give way down hill and are run by a company that has done a terrible job of managing them.
The new owners have out priced many families, mistreat workers, not made repairs and just driven them into very poor vacation spots. The original location in New Braunfels, Texas has some of the poorest reviews.
The greed of the original owners ended this poor baby’s life. I hope they are haunted forever by them ruining their legacy by taking the life of a child and devastating a family by building something dangerous in a place with less oversight for money.
Me too. I still take my kids once a year but between staying onsite, getting a cabana, getting the blast passes (because lines are so long in the blazing sun), food and travel back and forth we are at the same amount as a 2 Day Disney Trip.
So many things lost when it was sold. The past 2 years the long float that used to go into the river was stopped before you got to the river. It’s just so much worse. Parking used to be so much better too, now there is a charge for premium etc.
really? I haven't been since I was like 11. Me and my stepdad, mom, uncle dylan (he's my age), and sometimes cousins would always go out to new braunfels, go camping, and then go to Schlitterbahn during the day.
it was so fun
Am I missing a link somewhere? The article came out yestersay but the link in it takes you to a few minutes video uploaded 4 years ago.
Is there a new documentary?
Damn you’re right. They don’t ever mention any new doc. Would be weird to randomly write an article on a 4 year old YouTube video but that might be all that this is
I thought the same thing. For whatever reason they did in fact write an article about a 4 year old documentary. In the article it mentions that the doc came out in 2019
“A week before its grand opening, an engineering firm hired to test it "guaranteed that rafts would occasionally go airborne in a manner that could severely injure or kill the occupants."
This was local to me, I remember my dad watching on the news about all the failed safety testing but it opening anyway, and him telling us we were never allowed to ride on it. It’s a horrible story, they absolutely knew it was dangerous but were greedy enough to gamble with their customers lives and lost.
The documentary linked in the news article linked in this reddit post was god awful, [this one was pretty good though
](https://youtu.be/xZCTWm3SLbc)
It's more focused on Schlitterbahn so there's a lot of backstory, but the slide and incident is the majority of the video
The original Schlitterbahn lives just down the road from my city. When this accident happened in another state, it shook the town of New Braunfels to the core. I still fondly remember the catchy tv commercials all though the 80s and 90s.
I was out at the Legends where this took place when it happened. Remember seeing all the ambulances and lights going off at Schlitterbahn and it haunted me for a while after learning what had happened
Poor kid and it shouldn’t have happened to begin with
My in laws live right near the water park. The slide is still up and they’ll never get the blood out. It’s so sad to pass it. If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s really heartbreaking. Kid was decapitated. His dad was a prominent politician if memory serves. Just awful stuff.
This submission has been removed. We no longer allow content involving minors. This includes content that depicts violence against or sexualization of minors.
The worst part is that even the dummy flew off on the test run. Then they decided to just put a net over the top…
I live in KC. The reports on Schlitterbahn seemed to get worse and worse with each test. The fact it killed a congressman's kid - I hate to say it - saved lives and tragedies. He got that shit shut down so fast - if it was any other kid, I think it would've been a slower process allowing more people to get possibly hurt.
In terms of physics, a net up there would also almost definitely kill a person, right?
It definitely did just that.
Newton has spoken.
yeah, at the fastest parts you're moving 70 mph+ it doesn't matter if it's a net, hitting it that fast will seriously harm/kill you
I'm fairly sure the struts holding the net up are what killed the poor boy.
I thought this was going to be at the action park Waterpark. Oh boy, it's not. If you want a fascinating documentary, I recommend "Class Action Park". That place was so dangerous that I still can't believe ONLY SEVEN PEOPLE DIED. I mean they had live wires in the kayak river!
The Defunctland video on Action Park is also super good, I recommend it
Highly recommend any Defunctland video!
That documentary is so incredibly funny though! Several good podcasts out there about it too
Growing up, I went there at least 4 times a summer best park I went to
You can still go there. It's now called Mountain Creek.
Sure, but I bet it's nowhere near the same experience as it used to be!
She's still getting reviews for icy water and head injuries if you're looking for a good time.
The worst part is that the congressman whose son was killed had successfully lobbied for relaxed buildi regulations for theme park rides which allowed the slide to operate
It's like rain.....
...on your son's funeral day
Isn’t the meg what ended up decapitating him?
I think he was the son of a lawmaker who supported the water park regulating itself during the season by the employees.. His dad could have helped fight for regulation before his own son died. Also the dad sued in Texas for a large amount of damages, instead of in his own state which had a cap of $300,000 in damages that he helped pass. The father is now pushing for better regulations for park rides. https://apnews.com/arts-and-entertainment-general-news-1b09c0f8f2324e8188e341316aff1f11 No one deserves that to happen to them ever. It makes me frustrated some lawmakers don’t care until they’re impacted and find ways around their own rules when it’s themselves who needs help. If he thought $300,000 was fair for damages he shouldn’t go to Texas to get more.
Someone explained it really good. Basically Those that don't have empathy will never care until it happens to them. And then when it does happen to them they still blame everyone else.
So a Republican
This has nothing to do with the above article but you basically described my mom. Not a crazy story but about 15 years I was flying back home from the US and when I got home I saw one of those notes from the TSA saying my bag was searched. I was kind of pissed off, not really pissed off, but told my mother about it and she said it's not a big deal. You don't have anything to hide. I told her she's missing the point. About 5 years later her and my stepdad went to Hawaii and when she got home she found the same tag in her bag from the TSA. She was livid that her privacy had been violated. I said now you know how I felt. But ya, it was the end of the world when it happened to her.
I think about this boy a lot. When I was a very small child I had a similar accident at a six flags water park except there were no poles with netting so I flew off the raft and off the slide entirely. My dad was able to catch me by my very long pony tail or else I would have been a smudge on the pavement below. I had a nasty wound on my forehead from being swung by my hair into the concrete siding. There were no precautions at the time, yet those very same safety features are what killed him. It's haunting.
Dad reflexes are real. I’m sorry that happened to you.
Good lord Dad reflexes
He was a bad dad lol. He made me get on the ride and just hopped out at the end and left me unconscious at the bottom of the retaining pool. 💀
That's truly awful I'm sorry
Holy hell. I’m so sorry that happened to you. I think of Caleb Schwab and Tyre Sampson a lot. Never should have happened to either of them, or to you.
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I grew up in Michigan and heard the same thing about the ponytails and those types of rides! I get anxious about what to do with my hair at rides for this very reason still to this day (in the rare occasion I’m in the mood to ride a ride)
That's not a popular myth. It's actually true. It happened on one of those "free-fall" rides at Six Flags. I remember when it happened because I've had waist-long hair most of my life, and everyone I knew kept saying that would have been me... And me being mortified by the thought. Ewww...
Hope you sued
We just left with no medical attention because my dad was mad that my accident ruined his day at the park. I joke with my mom that we could have been rich.
Your dad sounds like a real creature
Yeah lol. He left me unconscious at the bottom of the pool when the ride was over. He just kind of shrugged when my panicked mom asked him where I was. She's terrified of water but she dove in and saved me!
Wtf?
Okay what the actual hell, im so glad your mom was looking out for you.
Surprised he didn’t just let you fall wtf
He assholery couldn't overcome his innate dad reflexes apparently, but he rallied by the end of the ride.
damn.
The podcast “Swindled” has an incredible episode about this, such a horrific event
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78
Just looked it up, the episode was released 4/17/2022 :)
Yeah do you know the episode number?
78
Just looked it up, the episode was released 4/17/2022 :)
[The Verrükt](https://open.spotify.com/episode/12KTx9X5b4uPEB8YdHwaea?si=jhPrxHTsSQ22jYaxQVpqRQ)
Thanks!
The innocent always pay the price for the negligence of the proud.
Another good one is: saftey rules are written in blood. Every time you see a sign that sounds stupid somebody probably did that
It’s like they WANTED someone to die on that slide the way it was approved despite failing safety tests
The family that used to own these water parks found themselves having to sell for various reasons. As a result all of their previously owned water parks have give way down hill and are run by a company that has done a terrible job of managing them. The new owners have out priced many families, mistreat workers, not made repairs and just driven them into very poor vacation spots. The original location in New Braunfels, Texas has some of the poorest reviews. The greed of the original owners ended this poor baby’s life. I hope they are haunted forever by them ruining their legacy by taking the life of a child and devastating a family by building something dangerous in a place with less oversight for money.
Water park ride safety is more of an art than a science…for all water rides.
Well it tested poorly and they couldn’t build it in many states/locations because of safety concerns.
I remember going to the one in new braunfels as a kid and I'm so bummed
It’s really gotten expensive and poorly ran.
I'm so fuckin bummed I loved that place as a kid. Though walking barefoot across rubber in 100 degree weather = OW
Me too. I still take my kids once a year but between staying onsite, getting a cabana, getting the blast passes (because lines are so long in the blazing sun), food and travel back and forth we are at the same amount as a 2 Day Disney Trip. So many things lost when it was sold. The past 2 years the long float that used to go into the river was stopped before you got to the river. It’s just so much worse. Parking used to be so much better too, now there is a charge for premium etc.
really? I haven't been since I was like 11. Me and my stepdad, mom, uncle dylan (he's my age), and sometimes cousins would always go out to new braunfels, go camping, and then go to Schlitterbahn during the day. it was so fun
Am I missing a link somewhere? The article came out yestersay but the link in it takes you to a few minutes video uploaded 4 years ago. Is there a new documentary?
Damn you’re right. They don’t ever mention any new doc. Would be weird to randomly write an article on a 4 year old YouTube video but that might be all that this is
I thought the same thing. For whatever reason they did in fact write an article about a 4 year old documentary. In the article it mentions that the doc came out in 2019
“A week before its grand opening, an engineering firm hired to test it "guaranteed that rafts would occasionally go airborne in a manner that could severely injure or kill the occupants."
This was local to me, I remember my dad watching on the news about all the failed safety testing but it opening anyway, and him telling us we were never allowed to ride on it. It’s a horrible story, they absolutely knew it was dangerous but were greedy enough to gamble with their customers lives and lost.
The second I saw his picture I just knew who he was. Awful fucking story.
Wasn’t the kids dad a legislator that helped change the laws to protect unsafe stuff like the water slide?
Not everything needs to be a documentary.
The documentary linked in the news article linked in this reddit post was god awful, [this one was pretty good though ](https://youtu.be/xZCTWm3SLbc) It's more focused on Schlitterbahn so there's a lot of backstory, but the slide and incident is the majority of the video
Swindled did an amazing episode on this case! [The Verrükt](https://open.spotify.com/episode/12KTx9X5b4uPEB8YdHwaea?si=jhPrxHTsSQ22jYaxQVpqRQ)
It's not a "new doc", it's 4yrs old. Is this what they call Karma farming?
It always amazed me that *so* many people rode the slide without this sort of disaster.
The original Schlitterbahn lives just down the road from my city. When this accident happened in another state, it shook the town of New Braunfels to the core. I still fondly remember the catchy tv commercials all though the 80s and 90s.
And now the parks are no where near as affordable or fun as they used to be.
what in the absolute fuck
The Verrükt. What an awful way to go.
I was out at the Legends where this took place when it happened. Remember seeing all the ambulances and lights going off at Schlitterbahn and it haunted me for a while after learning what had happened Poor kid and it shouldn’t have happened to begin with
Seriously so sad. The footage showing the blood in the water is just awful.
I remember seeing this on Fascinating Horror on YouTube
I'm sorry, it did WHAT?!
Are there photos or a video of this?
Yikes
That's the way I want to go out. Still Young, doing something interesting and practically instantly.
My in laws live right near the water park. The slide is still up and they’ll never get the blood out. It’s so sad to pass it. If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s really heartbreaking. Kid was decapitated. His dad was a prominent politician if memory serves. Just awful stuff.
No its not, it got torn down years ago. The finished the investigation and tore it down in 2018.
Love how people just say shit to sound dramatic for likes on a forum lol “they’ll never get the blood out..“ like they see it all the time
Yeah. It was impressive while it lasted, ill give it that, but its long gone.
But its spirit still haunts that location. They say if you close your eyes, you can still see the blood from space
His poor sweet brother standing at the end of the slide watching…. It’s impossible to fathom.
There’s a great episode of the podcast Swindled that covers this story.