The dad of a 14-year-old boy who fell to his death from a fairground ride in Florida said he only found out about the tragedy after seeing a video of it happening online.
Yarnell Sampson, has told how it felt like he was hit “hard in the stomach” when he saw his son Tyre fall from the ride when he was halfway down a 430 feet descent at ICON Park, in Orlando.
The teenager could be seen coming free from his harness in the distressing footage.
“It felt like somebody hit me so hard in my stomach. I just lost, I lost, lost wind,” Sampson reportedly said.
“And the pain behind it could never be taken away — and sorry’s not gonna take it back and no monies, no nothing in the world to replace the young man. And it’s just sad, a young man’s bright future was taken away from him over a ride, an amusement park.”
An investigation is now ongoing into the cause of the tragedy on the ride that has remained closed and Mr Sampson has said he wants answers.
He told WESH 2.: “I want to know what happened to my son. I want to know why my son is in a white bag, having to get shipped back home. He walked there. Why he can’t walk back? I want answers from everybody. Who all was involved in that?
“I wish I was there to tell him I love him, that I’m sorry. For him to lose his life. So young, and I wish it was me."
The family has launched a petition for the ride to be closed on a permanent basis.
Sampson said that his son was 6'5" and was told by other rides in the park that he was too large to ride safely - but Free Fall ride operators waved him aboard.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina, on the investigation, said: "It appears to be just a terrible tragedy. We will see moving forward what that results in."
There were no 'seatbelts' on the ride - the only thing stopping passengers from falling out of their seats is plastic, pull-down harnesses which are supposed to be buckled in place, in between riders' legs.
The ride went up in the air and halted for roughly 10 seconds before dropping.
Tyre fell out of his seat and landed on the ground soon afterwards to the horror of the other riders.
