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What ride killed TYRE Sampson?

The Orlando FreeFall drop tower in ICON Park in Orlando, Florida, is pictured on March 28, 2022. The owner's manual for the tower lists the ride's weight limit at 287 pounds. Tyre was just over 6 feet tall and weighed 383 pounds, according to the autopsy report.



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Tyre Sampson plummeted to his death from the Orlando FreeFall drop tower in ICON Park on March 24 – a ride described by its operators as the world's tallest freestanding drop tower.

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Tyre Sampson died on March 24, 2022, after falling out of his seat on the 400-foot-tall ride at Icon Park in Orlando, where he was visiting with his football team for spring break.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Standing in front of the Orlando Free Fall drop tower where her 14-year-old son Tyre Sampson lost his life nearly a year ago, Nekia Dodd and her lawyer announced Wednesday they had reached a settlement with ride owner Orlando Slingshot and landlord ICON Park in the civil lawsuit over Tyre's death.

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During the ride, the 14-year-old “slipped through the gap between the seat and harness,” according to the state report. It concluded that “the cause of the accident was that Tyre Sampson was not properly secured in the seat.” The autopsy report said Tyre died from blunt force trauma.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Standing in front of the Orlando Free Fall drop tower where her 14-year-old son Tyre Sampson lost his life nearly a year ago, Nekia Dodd and her lawyer announced Wednesday they had reached a settlement with ride owner Orlando Slingshot and landlord ICON Park in the civil lawsuit over Tyre's death.

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Tyre Sampson, 14, 'knew something was wrong with his harness and was freaking out' before Icon theme park fall, dad says. THE dad of a teen boy who died falling from a theme park ride said his son knew his safety harness was not fitted right.

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ORLANDO, Fla. The SlingShot, which catapults riders up to 450 feet into the air at speeds of 100 mph in less than two seconds, was closed in March 2022 after Tyre Sampson died when he fell from his seat on the Orlando FreeFall, a drop tower ride.

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An operations manual published by the Orlando Free Fall ride's manufacturer lists the weight limit as 130 kg, or about 287 pounds—meaning Sampson exceeded the maximum passenger weight by nearly 100 pounds.

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Sampson's death was ruled an accident by the medical examiner. He suffered extensive injuries, including a fractured jaw, a broken arm, a broken leg and fractures of a number of ribs. A routine drug screen was done and it was negative for the presence of drugs.

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Tyre Sampson, Who Fell To His Death From Orlando Ride, Was Turned Away From Other Rides.

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Identified only as Ivan, he was the source of the gruesome video that showed 14-year-old Tyre Sampson's fall from the thrill ride. That very same video circulated widely following Sampson's death, getting to Sampson's father before official news of his passing.

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Parks cite safety concerns whenever a large rider is prohibited from a ride. In recent years, there have been several high-profile accidents involving larger riders being thrown from a theme park ride.

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