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New Details Emerge In Death Of Teen Who Fell From Florida Amusement Park Ride

   DailyWire.com
Freefall
Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

An autopsy released on Monday revealed that Tyre Sampson, 14, was almost 100 pounds over the weight limit for the FreeFall ride at Orlando’s ICON Park when he fell to his death. 

Sampson’s autopsy showed that his death was the result of both internal injuries and external injuries which included trauma to his head, neck, and torso, according to The New York Post. The document also recorded the teen’s weight at 383 pounds. 

The publication noted that the FreeFall ride weight limit is 287 pounds.

“Be careful when seeing if large guests fit into the seats,” a manual for the ride says. “Check that they fit within the contours of the seat and the bracket fits properly. If this is not so — Do not let this person ride.”

Sampson died in March after slipping out of the safety harness while the 430-foot-tall ride was about halfway down. A video of the tragic accident went viral on social media after a crowd of people witnessed the tragedy. 

Per the Post, ride operators had apparently adjusted Sampson’s harness to allow him to ride before the accident. His friends said that the teen football player had been turned away from other rides at ICON Park because he was too large to fit on them.

According to witnesses, Sampson knew he was not correctly fitted in the seat while on the ride. 

“When the ride took off, that’s when he was feeling uncomfortable,” Tyre’s father Yarnell Sampson said, as reported by The Daily Wire. “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.”

Amusement park ride safety analyst and consultant Ken Martin told Fox News that the teen’s death was “criminal” and preventable.   

“Once Mr. Sampson got on the ride, the ride operator should have come around, attempted to pull the shoulder harness over him and lock it,” he said. “We all saw that. We know that the shoulder restraint did not come down where it was supposed to be and that, you know, is an issue.”

Sampson’s family has several lawsuits pending in regards to Tyre’s death, which they claim was the result of gross negligence. 

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