This past Monday afternoon, the released autopsy done on the remains of Tyre Sampson, aged 14, revealed that the boy was just shy of 100 pounds over the weight limit set for the FreeFall ride at Orlando’s ICON Park at the time of his death by falling.
The autopsy on Sampson showed that his death was the direct result of both external injuries and internal injuries which included trauma to his torso, head, and neck, as reported by The New York Post. The released document also stated that the teen’s weight was 383 pounds.
The outlet highlighted that the weight limit set in the safety standards of the FreeFall ride is set at 287 pounds.
“Be careful when seeing if large guests fit into the seats,” reads a manueal written for the ride. “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 this past March due to slipping out of the safety harness while the 430-foot-tall ride was half way back down. A video of the horrible accident spread its way across social media becuse of the crowd of people who were forced to witness the event.
As reported by the Post, the operators for the ride had allegedly adjusted the harness for Sampson in order to let him ride just before the accident. His friends stated that the teen football player had been refused access to carious other rides around ICON Park because he was far too large to fit on them.
According to those on the scene, Sampson knew the harness was not seated correctly into the seat whlie he was on the ride.
“When the ride took off, that’s when he was feeling uncomfortable,” claimed Tarnell Sampson, Tyre’s father. “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.”
Ken Martin, an amusement park ride safety analysy and consultant, stated to Fox News that the death of the teen was “criminal” and entirely 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 stated. “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 currently has quite a few lawsuits pending in relation to Tyre’s death, which they allege was the result of gross negligence.