ST. LOUIS — A south city school community is mourning the loss of Tyre Sampson, the teenager who died after falling from an Orlando thrill ride last week.
Tyre, who lived in St. Louis County, attended City Garden Montessori School, which is in the city’s Botanical Height’s neighborhood. School leaders said he was a student there for many years “and was a beloved and treasured member of our City Garden family.”
Tyre was 14 years old.
“We will miss him tremendously and our hearts go out to his family and friends during this extremely difficult time,” a letter to families Friday stated. “Tyre was well known to our students and our staff, and we are prepared to support them as we all attempt to process this tragedy.”
The school was on spring break last week when the incident happened. Students returned to the classroom Monday, with counselors available to help those who want it.
City Garden school officials also offered information from the National Association of School Psychologists to help families and staff members through potentially difficult conversations about Tyre’s death.
Tyre was killed last Thursday night when he fell from the 430-foot Orlando FreeFall ride at ICON Park. He was at the amusement park with football teammates celebrating spring break.
The 14-year-old was a 6-foot-5-inch, 325-pound eighth grader. He was a straight-A student who was looking forward to playing football for the East St. Louis Flyers this fall. He also played for Bad Boyz, a nationally ranked youth football program based in St. Louis.
City Garden school officials said they plan to honor and remember Tyre, with more plans to be announced in the future. At this time, they’re collecting donations for Tyre’s family. Donations can be made through City Garden’s online site here, through Venmo by sending money to @CityGardenSchool or through the CashApp by using $CityGardenSchool.