14 Year Old Falls Off Ride

Unfortunate events occurred at Icon Park on March 24, as authorities got a heartbreaking call that would soon affect many people across the country. 

A young, fourteen year old boy named Tyre Sampson from Missouri, was in Orlando, Florida with some of his friends enjoying the night at Icon Park. Tyre was not able to get on two of the rides because of his great size, 6’5 and 340lb. When Tyre got to The Orlando Freefall, he received what he thought was great news; he was able to ride. 

The Orlando FreeFall is a ride that can hold up to thirty passengers. The ride rises into the air, spins around the tower, and tilts down to the ground before dropping. When the ride drops, the speed can get up to seventy-five miles per hour.

The ride has over-the shoulder restraint harnesses, with two hand grips at chest level. Usually rides have an additional secondary seat belt, and with this ride just opening up in December 2021, it was odd that this ride did not.

When the ride was dropping to the ground, Tyre’s shoulder restraints came loose. At four-hundred feet in the air, Tyre Sampson fell off of the ride. People began panicking and quickly calling 911.

Someone who was there with another group of friends did not decide to go on the ride, and instead videoed his friends on it. Ivan, the friend, ended up capturing the whole ride, beginning to end. Ivan recorded when the ride took off, when it stopped, and what happened immediately after. Ivan told authorities that his friends were just two seats away from Tyre.

“This could have been one of my friends that it happened to. It’s not what you would expect from a ride in the heart of Orlando. We’re known for our amusement parks, for our thrill rides,” Ivan stated. 

Ivan also said that there were many red flags before the ride even began. In his video, one of his friend’s was questioning the worker about why his seat did not have an extra seatbelt. 

About thirty seconds after Tyre had fallen, ride workers asked each other about the boy’s harnesses. Each seat has a light that indicates if it is strapped in or not. Workers claim that they did check his harness, and that the light was on, so they assumed that he was strapped in securly. 

This situation is still under on-goin investigation by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. No criminal charges have been filed yet, but a negligence or wrongful death lawsuit, or both, seem very likely.