Former child actor Rory Sykes killed in L.A. fires as water ran dry, his mother says
An Australian mother has told how she tried in vain to save her blind son from a difficult situation. Los Angeles area wildfires due to depletion of water supply.
Television production entrepreneur Shelley Sykes has told Australian media she fought a desperate battle to save her 32-year-old son Rory Sykes, who has cerebral palsy.
wind fanned wildfire At least 24 people died in Los Angeles, engulfing neighborhoods and destroying homes.
Sykes said on social media She lives with her son on a 17-acre estate in Malibu, a seaside city in Los Angeles County.
Rory Sykes, who appeared on the British TV show “Kiddy Kapers” in the 1990s, had his own separate cottage on the estate, she said.
Her son is blind and has difficulty walking.
“Rory’s feet were starting to swell from the heat and it was difficult to walk. He also had a tummy problem, so he didn’t want to go too far from the bathroom,” Sykes told Australia’s Channel 9 on Sunday.
“So he said, ‘Mom, you go, I’ll stay’.”
Sykes said she could not leave her son alone at the estate.
“I was in the main floor bathroom with my two peacocks because I had trouble breathing. Sitting on the floor with bottles of water trying to stay moist.”
Sykes said she saw embers on the roof of her son’s cabin and tried to put them out with a hose, but “no water came out.”
She then drove to the nearest fire station to seek help but was told they also had no access to water.
“There is nothing there”
Fire hydrants ran dry in some Los Angeles neighborhoods during initial efforts to put out the fires, sparking widespread anger among residents.
When the fire department brought Sikes back to her residence, she found the cabin reduced to “just black ash.”
“There’s nothing there,” she told Channel 9.
Sykes, who shared the same birthday as her son, said she was devastated by his death.
“I was just devastated, this moment was unreal. I couldn’t breathe.”
The fire department said he died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Sykes said.
The injured mother said she was unable to save her son from danger.
“My arm was broken. I couldn’t lift him. I couldn’t move him,” she told Australia’s Channel 10 in a separate interview.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware of reports of the death of an Australian man and was working closely with local authorities.
The department said it was providing consular assistance to the man’s family but could not comment further, citing “privacy obligations.”
The Associated Press reported that 67-year-old amputee Anthony Mitchell and his son Justin, who had cerebral palsy, also died in the fire. Other fire victims They included a man who was found holding a garden hose and an 82-year-old man found dead in his bed.
