On the heels of a viral tragedy that claimed the life of a 14-year-old, singer YK Osiris is stepping up to help out the child’s bereaved family.
As Blavity previously reported, Missouri native Tyre Sampson—affectionately referred to as “Big Tick” by his friends—lost his life this past Thursday night after falling from the Orlando Free Fall ride at Florida‘s ICON Park. The 430-foot, seatbelt-free attraction was advertised as “the world’s tallest free-standing drop tower,” and Sampson jarringly slipped through the shoulder-harness toward the end of the ride—which hit “speeds reaching over 75 mph.”
The 8th-grade footballer, who stood at 6’5″ and was over 300 lbs., was ultimately dead at a nearby hospital.
‼️A 14-year-old boy has died after falling from the Free Fall ride at ICON Park. Happened Thursday. #ORLANDO pic.twitter.com/xdGTH2kFl7
— JJ (@Joshuajered) March 25, 2022
“This young man, he was athletic and big. He had no way of knowing,” attorney Bob Hilliard said. “This is going to be an issue of a lack of supervision and lack of training. A straight-up negligence case.”
Yarnell Sampson, Tyre’s father, told WESH he learned about his son’s tragic death from a video posted to social media.
“It felt like somebody hit me so hard in my stomach,” he said. “I just lost, I lost, lost wind. 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,” Yarnell added.
As word and video of the tragedy began to spread, it ultimately caught the attention of YK Osiris, an artist who was notably named a 2019 XXL Freshman. The “Worth It” singer reshared a post about the tragedy and added that he wanted to help by covering the funeral costs.
“If anybody knows his family, tell them to DM me because I want to pay for his funeral costs,” YK Osiris shared on his Instagram Story.
The things they don’t talk about, @ykOsiris is willing to pay the funeral cost for the 14-year-old who died on the Free Fall ride at an Orlando amusement park. pic.twitter.com/OxYdlYQ76w
— LFT Nahlej 🇯🇲 (@HesAlwaysWrite) March 26, 2022
The 23-year-old singer hasn’t further spoken on the matter via social media, and it’s currently unclear whether or not he has gotten in contact with Sampson’s family.