Tyre Sampson.Photo: Gail & Wynn’s Mortuary, Inc.
Months after a14-year-old boy’s death, it has been announced that a Florida amusement park ride will be permanently removed after an investigation is completed.
Tyre Sampsonof Missouri died when he fell from the 430-foot-tall Orlando FreeFall ride at ICON Park in March. An accident report released shortly after said Sampson “came out” of his seat as the ride descended. The report went on to note that Sampson’s “harness was still in a down and locked position when the ride stopped.” He died of “multiple injuries and trauma,” per the report.
On Thursday, Orlando Slingshot announced they decided to take down the attraction following “the accidental death of Tyre Sampson on March 24.”
The statement said details about the scholarship are still being determined, and the company plans to consult with Sampson’s family. The FreeFall ride will be removed after the approval of the parties involved.
ICON Park in Orlando.Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
ICON Park, where the ride was located, also issued a statement, calling Sampson’s death a tragedy.
“Tyre’s death is a tragedy that we will never forget,” park representatives said in a statement. “As the landlord, ICON Park welcomes and appreciates Orlando Slingshot’s decision to take down the ride.”
A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services told theOrlando Sentinelthat the ride cannot be taken down until the agency’s investigation, which is ongoing, has been completed.
In April, Commissioner Nikki Fried said duringa press conferencethat areport"confirmed our department’s finding that the operator of the Orlando drop tower made manual adjustments to the ride, resulting in it being unsafe."
“These mis-adjustments allowed the safety lights to illuminate, improperly satisfying the ride’s electronic safety mechanisms, which allowed the ride to operate, even though Mr. Sampson was not properly secured in the seat,” Freid said. As noted in the report, there are many other potential contributing factors that may have played a role in the incident, and that is what our department is continuing to investigate."
Speaking withCNN, Sampson’s father said it was an “emotional day.”
“It’s a little piece of justice for my son,” Yarnell Sampson told the outlet. “But the mission doesn’t stop. This is just part of the cause. A young man lost his life.”
“While this announcement is long overdue, the news today is a relief to Tyre Sampson’s grieving father, who has been advocating for this since the day Tyre fell to his death,” attorneys representing the boy’s father told the outlet. “The Orlando FreeFall ride never should have been permitted to operate under those faulty conditions. Theme parks, their parent companies, and regulatory agencies must do better to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening to any other family.”
After Sampson’s death, his father said he first heard about his son’s death through a video that was being shared on social media.
“It felt like somebody hit me so hard in my stomach,” he told NBC affiliateWESH. “I just lost, I lost, lost wind. And the pain behind it could never be taken away, and sorry’s not gonna take it back.”
“And it’s just sad, a young man’s bright future was taken away from him over a ride, an amusement park,” he added.
Jones called Sampson — who was 6 feet and 5 inches tall — a “humble giant.”
source: people.com
