Friends and family of Tyre Sampson are preparing to march at Icon Park.
— Anika Hope (@AnikaHopeTV) March 29, 2022
Their shirts are like football jerseys with #40.
Their signs: ‘Justice for Tyre’ pic.twitter.com/27hojfsUxd
Family members of the 14-year-old boy who died after falling from the Orlando Free Fall at Icon Park last week marched at the park to demand the ride be closed permanently.
The family of Tyre Sampson, the Missouri teen who passed after the tragic accident, was collecting signatures on a petition asking to shutter the ride.
"He was a good boy. He would give you the shirt off his back, if you needed it. He would give you his shoes off of his feet, if you needed it. He was just a sweet kid that really wanted to come here and have a good time," Sampson's cousin Shay Johnson told WESH.
The Free Fall has been closed since Sampson's fall on Thursday. Icon Park has called on the ride operators to close all of their rides in the park pending an investigation.
Sampson was in Orlando on a spring break trip with his football team. The 6-foot-5, 300+ pound teen was captured on video falling off of the ride as it dropped. The horrific scene was spread widely on social media, reaching Sampson's father before official word of his passing.
"I don’t want nobody else to have to go through the hurt and pain that me and my family is going through. Because it’s hard. It’s really hard," Johnson said.
A manual for the ride set individual rider's weight restrictions well below Sampson's weight. Further reports about the accident claim that Sampson's over-the-shoulder harness was still down and engaged when the ride reached the ground. The ride does not have lap safety belts.
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