On Sunday, a 10-yr-old boy died while on the Verrückt water slide at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, KS.
The Kansas City Star reported soon after that the child was the son of State Rep. Scott Schwab and his wife Michele. It was “elected officials day” at the park, and Rep. Schwab’s son was among many others enjoying the slide, which is the tallest water slide in the world.
The park has closed temporarily, but the slide will stay closed indefinitely. Kansas law requires approval from inspectors before a ride can be reopened after a serious injury.
The park’s representatives join in the public’s shock. As of now, no one seems sure of what happened or what caused the accident.
So what can we do after an event like this? We can mourn with the family, give them support and privacy, and honor their son’s memory by making sure it never happens again.
There’s a reason all the articles on this subject go into great detail about what might have caused the accident: the height, the net along the sides, how each raft had to be weighted down. We want to know these things because we and our loved ones have ridden water slides ourselves.
The Star reported other attendees to the park that day were especially shaken by the news because they knew it could have been them. Indeed, it could have been any of us. And that is terrifying.
We don’t know yet what happened at the water park, but accidents like this happen every day. People lose their lives over negligence or human error. It’s called “wrongful death,” and it’s an area of the law used to do two things at once:
- help families who have lost a loved one
- deter companies from ever letting it happen again
If you’re ever in the horrible position of losing a loved one to wrongful death, please contact me to discuss it at no charge. I’m here to help.