Autopsy shows Tyre Sampson fell more than 70 feet, died of blunt force trauma: report
An autopsy report has determined that blunt force trauma was the cause of death for a child who was 14 years old when he died after falling to his death after slipping off the world’s tallest drop attraction at Icon Park in Orlando in March.
Tyre Sampson, 14, is said to have suffered severe head, neck, and body injuries, as well as internal ailments, according to the report.
Even though Icon Park, the Slingshot Group, the connected firms and the manufacturers and contractors were named in a wrongful death lawsuit brought on behalf of the teen’s family, the medical examiner’s office determined that his death was an accident.
According to the report, Tyre weighed 383 pounds and stood over a height of over 6 feet, making him heavier than the ride’s recommended maximum rider weight of 287 pounds.
As recently as April, a report from the Florida Department of Agriculture stated that Tyre was able to get his head through the safety harness’s opening.
The ride operator was found to have made hazardous alterations to the ride’s harness during a field inquiry.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried stated at the time, “This analysis confirmed that manual changes were made to the sensor of the seat in question, allowing the harness-to-restraint opening to be nearly double the normal restraint opening range.”
Fried stated that faulty adjustments allowed Tyre’s seat’s safety lights to illuminate, allowing the ride to operate despite the adolescent not being properly fastened in his seat.
CNN obtained an accident report which proved that the harness was secured when the drop ride stopped.
It said that the harness was still in the locked-down position when the trip ended.
Following the accident, the Slingshot Group of Companies, which owns the ride, stated that Tyre was wearing a harness.
