Orlando FreeFall death: Video shows Tyre Sampson in seat moments before falling

Cellphone video shows the moments before a 14-year-old boy fell from an Orlando drop tower ride. Ride safety experts say his seat locked but was not pulled down far enough.

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[Forthewin]

Honestly, as a former ride operator. I always told big people that they weren’t allowed to ride. They would cuss me out and berate me but it was for their own safety, no regrets

[jobe]

I know that no one wants to hurt people's feelings, but if someone is too large for a ride, they should have told them so. That's not "fat-shaming", that's being honest about his safety and it could have saved his life!

[stratoplayer]

As a theme park and roller coaster enthusiast, I've been on many drop-tower rides in my life. Every one of them had a safety latch on the harness as a failsafe to prevent riders from falling out of their seats. Why this drop-tower didn't have one is beyond me.

Yes, the ride operators should have not let Tyre Sampson ride this attraction; but the manufacturer is equally, if not more, at fault for building and manufacturing a ride with such safety negligence.

[adrianvera]

He was so happy to be on that ride, look at the smile swinging his legs. R.I.P. 🕊🕊

[norrvox]

As a former ride operator, it is very clear whether or not someone is safely secure in the ride. It is never fun telling someone they are too big to ride but it has to be done.

[mamapoch]

I cannot imagine what this youngster went through. It’s just beyond heartbreaking! 💔😢

[RebeccaStout]

Harness "locks" at that height to leave a giant gap?? Uh, you can blame attendants all you want, that is a gross design flaw. They are responsible

[ajburgos]

As someone who works for Walt Disney World. On the times that I go on rides I always make double sure that the harness. It’s on tightly when I’m on one of these rides. Even when I’ve gone to other theme parks like SeaWorld Universal Studios and Bush Gardens. The people in those theme parks always make double sure. That you are safely secure. I had to rewatch the video several times. And you could clearly see that his harness wasn’t fully secure. Even though the guy in the video said he checked him. It’s very clear that he didn’t check him well enough. It just makes me very sad knowing that he came to Orlando to have fun. And he ended up losing his life. Because somebody just didn’t feel the need to make sure that he was safe.

[blessednhm]

It's been over a year, and I still think about that kid every time I pass by that area🥺! May he rest in peace 🙏🏾.

[rickyb]

I remember going to the state fair as a kid, and the workers didn't give a care about safety. I remember this one time not being buckled in tightly, granted it was just a swing type ride, but I still felt like I was going to fall out. Now that I'm an adult I realize half those ride operators were either drunk or high.

[Alteronx]

My family and I saw the uncensored fall video and was heartbroken. My mom started crying at the pain of losing a child. This was so tragic. We went to the vigil as well to show support, the sadness that filled the air that day was heavy

[KarlyC]

Just because the harness is down and locked, it still doesn’t mean it was secure. Green light or not, we can all see he unfortunately was too big for that ride. Such a sad tragedy that could have been avoided.

[laurenlocd]

And his best friend was sitting next to him 😢😢

[eileenrice]

That poor child has been on my mind since this happened. May he Rest In Peace.

[ItzNightFolf]

Can We All Just take a moment and say our prayers for this poor kid. Who didn’t become an adult yet!😭♥️

[JasonT]

I watched the uncensored video of him falling and because that shoulder restraint was so high on him, he slid right under it when he fell. It does not matter if they had green lights or if it was "locked", it was sitting up to high on him. The ride operators are at fault for his death for allowing him to ride and the park is at fault for apparently not giving the ride operators proper training.

[truneilson]

That poor boy, it had to be hard to be that tall and big... he wouldn't have wanted to miss out, but rides are not made to fit every body. My heart goes out to his family and everyone who was there that day including the ride operators.

[poobearlolcakes]

Really sad yes he was a big boy, but in this video you could see how young he was. Had his whole life ahead of him. I pray for the family, but also his best friend all he is going to remember is his seeing his friend die. I hope they get him the help he needs

[auntemmyd]

I find myself thinking about him often and I never ever knew him! My Heart is and will always be with him and his family! 💜🤟🏻❤️

[DankScole]

As Tragic as this is, you don’t think the constant media coverage and plastering of videos is disrespectful towards a grieving family. EVERYWHERE they turn, there’s the same “new footage”. Please let him rest and the family heal