Former Australian child star Rory Sykes, who was born blind and suffered from cerebral palsy, died on Wednesday in California wildfires after his mother said she was unable to save him from their home which was engulfed in flames
“It is with great sadness that I must announce the death of my beautiful son @Rorysykes in the Malibu fires yesterday. I am heartbroken,” Shelley Sykes wrote Thursday in a post on Xcalling him a “wonderful son”.
Rory Sykes, 32, was born blind and had difficulty walking because of cerebral palsy, his mother said. The actor, who starred in the late ’90s British TV series “Kiddy Kapers,” lived in a cottage on the family’s 17-acre Malibu estate.
Shelley Sykes said it burned during the Palisades Fire on Wednesday when she “couldn’t put the ashes off her roof with a garden hose” due to a lack of water. THE The Palisades fire broke out on Tuesday and has since expanded to more than 22,000 acres, destroying approximately 5,000 structures.
Shelley Sykes told Australian media 10 News First that she has a broken arm and cannot lift or move her son.
“He said, ‘Mom, leave me.’ And no mother could leave her child,” she said, crying.
Shelley Sykes said she went to the local fire department for help, but they told her they had no water. She said that when firefighters brought her back, “Rory’s cottage was burned to the ground.”
According to 10 News First, firefighters told the mother that her son died of carbon monoxide poisoning during the wildfire. His death was not officially included in the wildfire toll, the station reported.
Officials said at least 11 people have died in the Los Angeles area in wildfires. Firefighters continue to battle blazes that burned 39,000 acres in the greater Los Angeles area on Saturday.
