ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Watch the full press conference with Tyre Sampson's mom, Nekia Dodd, in the player above.The mother of Tyre Sampson said she wants the Orlando FreeFall drop tower ride at ICON Park to be taken down after her son fell to his death while on the ride in March, and also demanded that there be stricter laws for those types of rides.CONTINUING COVERAGE: Orlando FreeFall Death Investigation"They can take the ride down completely.
Get rid of it altogether. It's too big of a risk," Nekia Dodd, Sampson's mother, told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday in St.
Louis, Missouri, where Sampson lived. It was the first time she's spoken publicly since her son's death.Dodd and Yarnell Sampson, Tyre's father, filed a joint wrongful death civil lawsuit on Monday against the amusement park where the ride is location, the ride's manufacturer, owners and operators, and the construction company that build the ride."To get a call over the phone and to not be there, as a mother, to comfort, to tell him, 'it's going to be OK', it's very disturbing and heart-wrenching," Dodd said, recalling the phone call she received the night her son fell off the ride.She remembered her son as a "gentle giant," who was humble, well-respected, and well-mannered.
He was known as "Big Tick" (Big Ticket) by his football team, and had dreams of playing sports professionally."He was a go-getter.