Former Australian child star Rory Sykes, who was born blind and had cerebral palsy, died Wednesday in the California wildfires after his mother said she was unable to save him from their home which was engulfed by flames.
“It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of my beautiful son @Rorysykes to the Malibu fires yesterday. I’m totally heart broken,” Shelley Sykes wrote Thursday in a post on X, calling him “a wonderful son.”
Rory Sykes, 32, had difficulty walking because of the cerebral palsy, his mother said. The actor, who starred in the late-’90s British TV show “Kiddy Kapers,” was living in a cottage on his family’s 17-acre Malibu estate.
Shelley Sykes said it burned down Wednesday in the Palisades Fire when she “couldn’t put out the cinders on his roof with a hose because the water was switched off by @LVMWD Las Virgenes Municipal Water."
"Even the 50 brave fire fighters had no water all day! He will be incredibly missed," she posted.
A spokesperson for Las Virgenes Municipal Water denied her claims, saying the "water service did remain available and uninterrupted to her property and the entire surrounding community."
"Our water system remained operational and we did provide water to the firefighters throughout the emergency and without interruption," the spokesperson said.
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 outlet 10 News First that she has a broken arm and could not lift or move her son.
“He said, ‘Mom, leave me.’ And no mom could leave their kid,” she said, crying.
Shelley Sykes said she drove to the local fire department for help, but they told her they did not have any water. She said when the fire department brought her back, Rory’s “cottage was burnt to the ground.”
According to 10 News First, firefighters told the mother that her son died from carbon monoxide poisoning in the wildfire. His death has not officially been included in the wildfire death toll, the station reported.
Officials said at least 11 people have died across the Los Angeles area in the wildfires. Firefighters continue to battle the blazes that, as of Saturday, have burned through 39,000 acres in the greater Los Angeles area.
