ORLANDO, Fla. — Tyre Sampson wrongful death suit filed, claims Icon Park should have known ride was unsafe
Several companies are now facing a wrongful death civil lawsuit over the death of 14-year-old Tyre Sampson, who died on the freefall ride at Icon Park one month ago.
The lawsuit claims the drop ride was unreasonably dangerous and is holding the manufacturers of the ride, Icon Park and the Sling Shot Group, responsible.
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On Monday, Channel 9 spoke with the attorney of Sampson’s mother, Nekia Dodd.
“This ride was designed to be the most dangerous and thrilling freefall ride in the world,” said Dodd’s attorney, Michael Haggard.
The lawsuit states that none of the riders, including Sampson, were warned about the dangers of the ride. Riders were not notified about weight and height restrictions and there were no signs posted. Haggard said Sampson was nearly 100 pounds over the rides weight limit.
Orlando FreeFall Ride Lawuit by WFTV on Scribd
“You had to go through a metal detector to get on the ride… so that maybe your keys don’t fly out at 400 feet. But when you have a weight requirement, which is a life-or-death requirement, they didn’t have a scale,” Haggard said.
Last week Channel 9 learned from state investigators that someone manipulated two seats on the ride, including Sampson’s, to accommodate larger passengers, creating a seven-inch gap in his seat. The normal gap is about three inches.
“The report confirms the manual adjustments have been made to the sensor with a seat in question that allowed the harness-to-restraint opening to be almost double that of the normal restraint opening range,” Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said.
The suit also stated Icon Park should have known someone could have been seriously injured or die because of the adjustments made and their past experience and knowledge.
“There’s not enough amount of money in the world that could compensate Samson’s mother for the loss of her child, especially in this way,” Haggard said.
Haggard told Channel 9 that Sampson did not die on impact.
WATCH: Lawyer for Sampson family demands answers, says video proves teen was not secured in ride
“He struggled for a while, and it was just awful,” Haggard added.
The lawsuit also stated it would have cost just $22 per seat to add a seatbelt, $660 for all the seats, and that could have possibly saved Sampson’s life.
Haggard said Sampson’s chaperone ran and tried to help him first, and added there was no immediate medical assistance provided.
READ: Report: Orlando FreeFall’s operator made manual adjustments to ride that made it unsafe
The Sling Shot group released a statement regarding the lawsuit, “Orlando Slingshot continues to fully cooperate with the state during its investigation, and we will continue to do so until it has officially concluded. We reiterate that all protocols, procedures and safety measures provided by the manufacturer of the ride were followed. We look forward to working with the Florida legislature to implement change in the industry and we are also supportive of the concepts outlined by State Representative Geraldine Thompson to make changes to state law through the ‘Tyre Sampson Bill’ to prevent a tragic accident like this from ever happening again,” Trevor Arnold, GrayRobinson P.A., attorney for Orlando Slingshot
Channel 9 has als0 reached out to Icon Park for a statement in response to this lawsuit.
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