Former child star with cerebral palsy dies 'needlessly' in LA fires as mum breaks down on camera
Share:
A former child star who was blind and had cerebral palsy "died needlessly" in the California wildfires, his mother has claimed. According to Shelley Sykes, her son Rory was staying at the family's home in Malibu which set ablaze- but when she tried to use water to douse the fire she discovered it had been turned off.
Shelley travelled to her local fire department after struggling to get through to the emergency services and move her son, Rory, from his self-contained cottage next to her property, while flames surrounded the area. "He was my baby, and he died needlessly", she told Australian TV newscast 10 News First. "Guess what didn't work, 911. All the phone lines were down," she said.
"He said 'Mum, leave me', and no mum can leave their kid, and I've got a broken arm. I couldn't lift him. I couldn't move him.". The news programme said she drove 400 metres to her local fire station to ask for help which is when they told her they had "no water", Ms Sykes claimed. "When the fire department brought me back, his cottage was burned to the ground", she added.
Ms Sykes said her British-born son, who appeared on TV show Kiddy Kapers, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Las Virgenes Municipal Water denied her claims, according to US reports, saying the "water service did remain available and uninterrupted to her property and the entire surrounding community".
After the tragedy, Shelley shared the news on her social media page writing, “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 heartbroken. He was a British-born Australian living in America, a wonderful son, a gift born on mine and his grandma's birthday 29 July 92.
