WATCH: @ABC News EXCLUSIVE: Parents speak out about water park tragedy; 10-year-old killed on world's tallest water slide. pic.twitter.com/d60qKr5jA3
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 13, 2017
Speaking publicly about his heartbreak for the first time, the dad of a 10-year-old boy decapitated on the world’s tallest water slide recalled warning his two sons that “brothers stick together” just before the freak accident.
For the first time, Rep. Scott Schwab (R-Kan.) and his wife Michele detailed the devastating day last August when Caleb was killed at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City.
Caleb and his older brother Nathan were about to get on line for the 168-foot tall Verruckt — German for “insane” — waterslide.
“Before they took off I said, ‘Brothers stick together.’ And he said, ‘I know dad,’” Scott said on “Good Morning America” in a clip that aired Monday. “I said, ‘Look at me — brothers stick together.’ ‘I know dad.’”
That was the last time Scott saw Caleb alive.
Nathan, 12, was waiting for his sibling at the bottom when Caleb suffered the fatal neck injury toward the end of the ride, which shoots riders down 17 stories at up to 65 mph.
“He was screaming, ‘He flew from the Verruckt! He flew from the Verruckt!’” Michele recalled.
“There was a gentleman who wouldn’t allow me to come close enough to see what was going on,” the mom added. “And he just kept saying, ‘No, trust me. You don’t want to go any further.”
In disbelief, Scott said he begged a witness to tell him what happened.
“I said just need to hear it from you, is he dead? And he says, ‘Yes, your son is dead.’ It was surreal I hardly remember driving home,” Scott said.
Last month, the Schwabs received an undisclosed monetary settlement from the amusement park which will be split among Caleb’s three brothers.
“It’s an accident but there’s an accounting because someone was negligent,” Scott said.
The grieving parents said they miss hugging Caleb and watching him play soccer.
But they also gave thanks to those who sent letters of support over the last six months.
“We have a box of greeting cards from around the world,” said Scott. “We just want people to know we’re thankful and we’re still hurting but we’re going to be okay.”
Family photo
John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM
Schiltterbahn Waterparks and Resorts
Schiltterbahn Waterparks and Resorts
Schiltterbahn Waterparks and Resorts
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