Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to People, the hospital weighed everyone and they were within the ride limits at a combined weight of 545 pounds. The maximum allowed was 550 so since they were near the upper limits the raft was probably traveling extra fast.

http://www.people.com/article/caleb-schwab-did-not-meet-weight-requirement-water-slide

Interesting. Caleb looks like he couldn't be more than 100 lbs to me from the pictures. Even that is probably generous but I don't know. I doubt he is over 100 at 10 years old though as he doesn't look particularly big. I mean this in the least judgemental way possible but even being generous with his weight that would make the ladies on this ride pretty big. This would mean they are about the same size and actually a little bigger than my 6'3 DH. He's not particularly skinny, so? either I'm vastly underestimating Caleb's weight or I'm still a little skeptical.

But I've wondered if there was some sort of "catch" somewhere along the track that with the weight distribution caused the displacement from the track. The other people who reported their raft going airborne enough to cause a park response were two adults with an 8 year old, a configuration that would have been similar to Caleb's raft (two larger adults offsetting a child sized person in the front).

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine how a 275 pound 25-year old female would be able to climb the 17 stories to the top of the slide. To give you a visual, that is someone about the size of Mama June on Honey Boo Boo when she first lost weight. I also would not believe the ride could safely hold someone that large. That uneven of weight distribution, barely 100 pounds in front (my son 12-years old is 117 pounds & looks at least 4 inches taller than the boy) would case the back of the raft to go down while bringing the front of the raft up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The age requirement was dropped at the start of this season.

The brother was watching from the ground and said to a worker, "My brother just died on one of your attractions." Then went to find his mother. So it must have been pretty horrific if the kid knew immediately that his brother was dead.

Also read that people had been complaining all summer that the Velcro straps on the ride were malfunctioning, probably due to wear and tear.

How horrifying. I hadn't seen that. So terrible.

Agree that ride needs to be shut down. Period.

This quote does not ring true for a 12-year old. Apparently the brother, Nate, was also screaming according to reports. There was also a young friend who was screaming and crying.

First PP quoted above. I agree about the wording not ringing true, but I think it's likely that he said something to that effect based on what else has been reported-- that the brothers were separated at the top and each went down with two adult strangers in consecutive rafts, that the parents were not at Verrucht with the two boys, that as soon Caleb's body slid to the bottom, the lifeguards held everyone back rather than try to administer any aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine how a 275 pound 25-year old female would be able to climb the 17 stories to the top of the slide. To give you a visual, that is someone about the size of Mama June on Honey Boo Boo when she first lost weight. I also would not believe the ride could safely hold someone that large. That uneven of weight distribution, barely 100 pounds in front (my son 12-years old is 117 pounds & looks at least 4 inches taller than the boy) would case the back of the raft to go down while bringing the front of the raft up.

I hauled 247 pounds up the stairs to ride it with my kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine how a 275 pound 25-year old female would be able to climb the 17 stories to the top of the slide. To give you a visual, that is someone about the size of Mama June on Honey Boo Boo when she first lost weight. I also would not believe the ride could safely hold someone that large. That uneven of weight distribution, barely 100 pounds in front (my son 12-years old is 117 pounds & looks at least 4 inches taller than the boy) would case the back of the raft to go down while bringing the front of the raft up.

I hauled 247 pounds up the stairs to ride it with my kids.

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine how a 275 pound 25-year old female would be able to climb the 17 stories to the top of the slide. To give you a visual, that is someone about the size of Mama June on Honey Boo Boo when she first lost weight. I also would not believe the ride could safely hold someone that large. That uneven of weight distribution, barely 100 pounds in front (my son 12-years old is 117 pounds & looks at least 4 inches taller than the boy) would case the back of the raft to go down while bringing the front of the raft up.

Anonymous wrote:I thought I read yesterday that as a group they were below the weight allowed - at 375 lbs total versus 400 total.

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine how a 275 pound 25-year old female would be able to climb the 17 stories to the top of the slide. To give you a visual, that is someone about the size of Mama June on Honey Boo Boo when she first lost weight. I also would not believe the ride could safely hold someone that large. That uneven of weight distribution, barely 100 pounds in front (my son 12-years old is 117 pounds & looks at least 4 inches taller than the boy) would case the back of the raft to go down while bringing the front of the raft up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to People, the hospital weighed everyone and they were within the ride limits at a combined weight of 545 pounds. The maximum allowed was 550 so since they were near the upper limits the raft was probably traveling extra fast.

http://www.people.com/article/caleb-schwab-did-not-meet-weight-requirement-water-slide

Interesting. Caleb looks like he couldn't be more than 100 lbs to me from the pictures. Even that is probably generous but I don't know. I doubt he is over 100 at 10 years old though as he doesn't look particularly big. I mean this in the least judgemental way possible but even being generous with his weight that would make the ladies on this ride pretty big. This would mean they are about the same size and actually a little bigger than my 6'3 DH. He's not particularly skinny, so? either I'm vastly underestimating Caleb's weight or I'm still a little skeptical.

But I've wondered if there was some sort of "catch" somewhere along the track that with the weight distribution caused the displacement from the track. The other people who reported their raft going airborne enough to cause a park response were two adults with an 8 year old, a configuration that would have been similar to Caleb's raft (two larger adults offsetting a child sized person in the front).