Fort Gibson Man Builds Lego Replica Of Downtown Tulsa While Recovering From Heart Attack

A Fort Gibson man has spent the last few months building a replica of downtown Tulsa out of Legos. The project helped him pass the time and served as a form of therapy.

For years, Terry Sampson looked at the Tulsa skyline in admiration. After a heart attack left him stuck at home, a generous donation gave him the chance to build on his creative side.

Before he started his build, Sampson was a bus driver for the Tulsa Drillers.

“I retired from doing that and wanted to stay home. And so, I took a job driving a school bus for five years," Sampson said.

His bus was special. He started Lego Thursdays to keep his kids entertained as he drove them home. After five years, everything came to a stop.

“Last September, during the corona, I had a massive heart attack. Thankfully, I’m still here," he said.

After the heart attack, Sampson was put on medication that prevents him from driving a bus again. Which left him stuck at home, unable to work, until his neighbors showed up with a bin full of Legos.

“I teared up. I really wanted to just start bawling because that, it means a lot to me," he said. “It’s just amazing, it’s really heartwarming.”

Lego Thursday turned into a project much bigger and helped feed a lifelong fascination with skyscrapers and the Tulsa skyline.

“With Tulsa, the art deco is unreal. It’s beautiful," Sampson said.

Sampson likes to keep his projects to scale and makes the details as realistic as possible.

He's now hundreds of bricks and dozens of buildings deep into the project and he plans to keep going.

To some the project may just be a hobby, but to Sampson, it's given him a piece of his life back.