The operator of the FreeFall ride at an Orlando amusement park says that it will be coming down following the tragic death of a teen boy. (Read More Here).
As it was previously reported back in March, a video began circling online showing someone falling from the tower at Orlando area’s ICON Park. Cops later identified the victim as 14-year-old Tyre Sampson of St. Louis, Missouri. In June, the chief medical examiner determined that Sampson’s cause of death was “blunt force trauma,” including several fractures and abrasions to his head, neck, and body.
“In consideration of the circumstances surrounding the death, and after examination of the body, toxicology analysis, and review of available medical records, it is my opinion that the death of Tyre Sampson, a 14-year-old male witnessed to fall from an amusement park ride and subsequently transported to the hospital, is the result of blunt force trauma.”
The decision to take down the 430-foot-tall Orlando FreeFall tower ride at ICON Park outside Orlando was confirmed to be made because of Tyre Sampson’s March 24 death, the operator explained in a statement: “We are devastated by Tyre’s death. We have listened to the wishes of Tyre’s family and the community, and have made the decision to take down the FreeFall,” Ritchie Armstrong, an official with ride operator Orlando Slingshot, said. “In addition, Orlando Slingshot will honor Tyre and his legacy in the classroom and on the football field by creating a scholarship in his name.”
