Rory Sykes, former child actor for British TV show, dies in LA wildfires

Rory Sykes, a former Australian child star born with cerebral palsy and blindness, tragically died on Wednesday amid the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires. Sykes, 32, was unable to escape his family’s home as it was engulfed in flames.

"It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of my beautiful son Rory Sykes to the Malibu fires yesterday. I’m totally heart broken,” his mother, Shelley Sykes, wrote on Thursday in a post on X. She also described him as “a wonderful son.”

Sykes had been living in the family’s 17-acre Malibu property when the fire consumed their home. According to NBC Los Angeles, Shelley Sykes was unable to extinguish the flames on the roof due to a lack of water.

In an interview with an Australian outlet, Shelley revealed that she had a broken arm and couldn’t move her son from the house. “He said, ‘Mom, leave me.’ And no mom could leave their kid,” she recounted. She drove to a nearby fire station, but firefighters informed her they had no water. When they returned to the home, the structure had been completely destroyed.

Firefighters told Shelley that Sykes’ death was due to carbon monoxide poisoning related to the fire, according to 10 News First. His death was not included in the official wildfire death toll.

Born blind and with cerebral palsy, Sykes overcame significant challenges in his youth. In the late 1990s, he appeared in episodes of the British television show Kiddy Kapers.

The Palisades Fire, which claimed Sykes’ life, has scorched over 22,000 acres and destroyed approximately 5,000 structures. Officials have confirmed at least 11 fatalities as a result of the wildfire.