The father of 14-year-old Tyre Simpson, Yarnell Simpson, spoke out about his son’s tragic incident that occurred Thursday night. On Thursday, the St. Louis resident and middle school football player died after falling from a drop tower ride at Orlando’s ICON PARK.
Yarnell stated his son “was panicking when he was going up.” He also stated that his son told his friends, who were also on the ride that he was feeling uncomfortable.
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“He was like, ‘What’s going on?’ That’s when he started freaking out, and he was explaining to his friend next to him, ‘I don’t know man. If I don’t make it down, please tell my Mom and Daddy I love them.’ For him to say something like that, he must have felt something.”
The teen was 6 foot and five inches and weighed over 300 pounds.
“This one particular ride said, ‘We can take you, come on! Get on!’ No one else allowed him to get on the ride, so I’m wondering what happened between now and then that made them say, ‘Come on, get this ride!”
Yarnell says the ride should’ve been stopped, and he plans on finding answers.
“This should never happen to anyone else’s child ever again, and if I have anything to do with this, it will not happen ever again.”
Condolences to the family.
