Teenage Boy Killed by Drop Tower in Orlando, Florida

[DialRain20]

Yeah there's probably going to be a lawsuit against the park for negligence.

[thedetective]

He may have been to big for the ride :(

[yah]

When I was young & dumb (back in the 80s), I held my shoulders up when being locked in on the Big Bad Wolf coaster at Busch Gardens so the harness wasn't fully secured (this was a ride where your legs hang below the car). After the ride started, because of the slack I was able to slip out of the harness so I could pass a joint between me & my buddies in the car ahead of me. After the initial relatively level/slow part, we hit the fast dives & turns & I quickly realized my stupidity as I had to hold on for dear life & thought for sure I was gonna die.

[hope4life21]

Originally Posted by Awake47

I just don't like how some peoples reaction is to pull their phone out and start recording. Disgusting

hello its 2022 what would you expect?

[DeathWarmedOver]

Originally Posted by gimlet

Peeps on the ride were still locked in their seats, "get us out!", so they couldn't run over immediately. The carnies were too busy getting their stories straight "you locked him in?" to render first aid. Carnies... their customer going 'SPLAT' at their feet doesn't bother them, possibly getting blamed galvanizes them into action.

That splat was epic. Reality is more impressive than shitty humorless movies like Final Destination.

Render first aid? Dafuq u say?

[wrex1]

Man I gotta say out of all the gore sites, DR has the best community. Sadly, I kind of expect douche bag racist comments but ppl here are a lot more cool. I know most of us are desensitized. Me being one of them. But most of us see that despite his height and weight we realize that he is still just a kid. And this is tragic af. Rest in peace young man. I hope you're in heaven having a fukn blast my dude. I hope your family gets millions from these negligent fuxx. That dude could have grown up to be a offensive linemen for my favorite football team lol. That impact was Hella extreme

[SimoneFlen']

The boy's father has spoken of the incident:

ORLANDO, Fla. - A father wants to know why his child died while visiting an Orlando amusement ride.

Yarnell Sampson said his 14-year-old son, Tyre, was visiting Orlando from St. Louis through a football program. He just wanted the kids to have fun and never expected this tragedy to occur.

Tyre tragically fell to his death while on the Orlando Free Fall drop tower at Orlando's ICON Park on Thursday night.

"He was panicking when he was going up," Sampson says his son was on the Orlando Free Fall ride at ICON Park with two of his best friends. "When the ride took off, that’s when he was feeling uncomfortable. He was like, ‘What’s going on?’ That’s when he started freaking out, and he was explaining to his friend next to him, ‘I don’t know man. If I don’t make it down, please tell my Mom and Daddy I love them.’ For him to say something like that, he must have felt something."

He said his son was 6 feet, 5 inches tall, and weighed 340 pounds.

"This one particular ride said, ‘We can take you, come on! Get on!’ No one else allowed him to get on the ride, so I’m wondering what happened between now and then that made them say, 'Come on, get this ride!"

He said they should have stopped the ride. He wants answers.

"This should never happen to anyone else's child ever again, and if I have anything to do with this, it will not happen ever again."

'You guys are sure you checked him?': ICON Park workers discuss boy's fall from Orlando drop tower ride

He said Tyre had an amazing future.

"Fourteen-year-old young man. He was an honor roll student. The young man had a bright future."

He said he played football because he wanted to make his dad proud and had hopes of playing in the NFL.

"Last season, they had a good football season. Went to nationals. Could have been a recruiting trip – wasn’t sure? It was something in that nature," he explained. "He was a team player. He was the type of young man that’d take the shirt off his back and give it to you."

As the Orange County Sheriff's Office investigates the death, Sampson also said that it took 10 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at the scene at ICON Park.

We have reached out to Orange County Fire Rescue for answers.

A few more images of the boy:

Far left, #40:

[wrex1]

Originally Posted by Simone

The boy's father has spoken of the incident:


A couple more images of the boy:

Attachment 1062361
Attachment 1062362

This kid would have been a monster. Probably a left or right tackle prospect frfr. I feel so bad for his family

[swedishpenis]

Originally Posted by Loopville

As it took off, the attendant repeatedly yelled to someone in the direction of the fallen passenger about their seat belt. 3 times. He knew something wasn't right.

And when the female colleague came and asked more than once, did you check the belts? Are you sure?

The responses she got were incongruent with what was shouted out at the the ride's departure.

This footage will be the family's ATM card.

He says "Hey, you check your seatbelt? On the left side, seatbelt, seatbelt". I think he may just have been joking with the people he'd been talking to trying to scare them.

[swedishpenis]

Originally Posted by Loopville

As it took off, the attendant repeatedly yelled to someone in the direction of the fallen passenger about their seat belt. 3 times. He knew something wasn't right.

And when the female colleague came and asked more than once, did you check the belts? Are you sure?

The responses she got were incongruent with what was shouted out at the the ride's departure.

This footage will be the family's ATM card.

After watching it a few more times I think you might be right actually. The attendant spends all his time talking to the people closest to the camera instead of checking everyones harnesses, and then after he's already pressed the button to send the ride up he notices that the kids harness isn't all the way down.