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The father of a 14-year-old who tragically fell to his death from an Orlando amusement park ride on Thursday is speaking out.
Tyree Sampson was visiting Orlando’s ICON Park on Thursday night from St. Louis, Missouri, with a football program when he unexpectedly fell off of the Free Fall ride while it was in motion.
Amusement park visitors were in shock after seeing a teenage boy die after falling off of one of the park’s rides.
(Fox 35)
“When the ride took off, that’s when he was feeling uncomfortable. He was like, ‘This thing is moving.’ … That’s when he started freaking out,” the boy’s father, Yarnell Sampson, told FOX 35 Orlando. “He was explaining to his friends next to him … ‘If I don’t make it down … please tell my mom and dad I love them.’ For him to say something like that, he must’ve felt something.”
He added that “this should never happen” to another child “ever again.”
The 14-year-old “had a bright future,” his father said. He was an “honor-roll student” and wanted to play in the NFL.
Sampson was 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 330 pounds, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Tyree Sampson (FOX 35 Orlando)
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Yarnell Sampson also told FOX 35 that it took 10 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at the scene of the accident after a 911 call was placed just before 11:15 p.m. ET. Authorities transported Tyree to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
His father said he plans to find out exactly what led to his son’s horrifying death.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
