Tragic fairground teen ‘panicked’
THE father of a US teen who died falling from a theme park ride that’s taller than Dublin’s Spire says his son believed something was wrong with his safety harness during the ride and even asked friends sitting next to him to tell his parents he loved them.
Tyre Sampson, 14, who was on a football programme trip from St Louis, died after slipping out of his seat on the 131-metre Orlando Free Fall ride on Thursday night.
As photos and new 911 call audio suggest that Tyre’s safety harness may not have been properly secured, his father Yarnell Sampson said the teen knew something was wrong as soon as the ride began to ascend.
‘He was like, “this thing is moving,” you know what I’m saying. And he was like ‘what’s going on?”,’ Mr Sampson told WOFL-TV in Florida.
The grieving father said Tyre began to panic and shared a chilling premonition with his two best friends next to him on the ride. ‘He was explaining to his friends, next to him, ‘I don’t know man, if I don’t make it down safely, can you please tell my mamma and daddy that I love them”,’ Mr Sampson said.
He added that his son was six foot five inches tall and weighed 340 pounds, and was told he was too large for other rides in the park, but that the ride operators waved him aboard.
An investigation is under way.