US
Tyre Sampson: Parents of teenager who fell to his death from theme park ride awarded hundreds of millions of dollars
The parents of a 14-year-old boy who fell to his death from a theme park ride have been awarded $310m (£243m) by a US jury.
Tyre Sampson, who was 6ft 2in tall and weighed 27 stone, plunged about 100ft (30 metres) from the Orlando Free Fall at ICON Park in Florida.
His size meant a shoulder harness did not lock properly.
The ride did not have seat belts, something most drop rides have as an additional safety measure.
The Orlando Free Fall ride. Pic: AP
Sampson, from St Louis, Missouri, died in March 2022 when the ride braked.
The budding NFL player weighed about seven stone more than the 20-stone limit.
Sampson was on spring break when he and his friends went to the amusement park.
They chose to ride the Orlando Free Fall, which placed 30 riders in seats attached to a tower, secured them with a shoulder harness and then dropped them 430ft (131 metres).
Tyre Sampson was a budding NFL player. Pic: Tyre Sampson/Facebook
His parents, Nekia Dodd and Yarnell Sampson, sued park owners ICON and Funtime, the ride manufacturer, claiming both should have warned their son about the risks of someone his size going on the ride and did not provide an appropriate restraint system.
On Thursday in a civil verdict, an Orange County jury ordered Funtime to pay the pair $155m (£121.5m) each after a trial that lasted only a day as the Austrian firm did not appear in court to defend itself.
Nekia Dodd, the mother of Tyre Sampson. Pic: AP
ICON Park had already settled with Sampson’s family for an undisclosed amount.
The family’s lawyers, Ben Crump and Natalie Jackson, said jurors had backed their view that Sampson’s death “was the result of blatant negligence and a failure to prioritise safety over profits”.
Funtime, they said, “neglected their duty to protect passengers, and [Thursday’s] outcome ensures they face the consequences”.
The family will now have to seek an order from an Austrian court to collect the damages.
Sky News approached Funtime for comment.
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Authorities ordered the ride to be closed after the accident and it never reopened.
The Orlando Free Fall is now being demolished.