Tragic final moments of child actor Rory Sykes killed in LA wildfires revealed as horrified mom watched Malibu home burn
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CHILD actor Rory Sykes' mom has revealed his heartbreaking final moments before flames ripped through his home. Brit-born Rory, 32, was killed when the LA wildfires reached his cottage on the family's Malibu estate last Wednesday. His mom, model Shelley Sykes, said she was forced to leave Rory - who was born blind and with cerebral palsy - in the 17-acre property when multiple 911 calls failed.
![[Rory Sykes pictured on TV as a child]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/rory-sykes-kerri-anne-mornings-962980361_f1f613.jpg?strip=all&w=907)
As the Palisades inferno tore through their neighborhood, phone lines went down and Shelley desperately drove to the closest fire station to raise the alarm. She said she was unable to evacuate 6ft5 Rory, who had difficulty walking, by herself as she was suffering from a broken arm.
![[The former child actor with mum Shelley]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/happycharity-true-humanitarian-saw-self-963075853_71bef2.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Shelley told 10 News First: "He said ‘Mum, leave me’ and no mum could leave their kid. "I’ve got a broken arm, I couldn’t lift him, I couldn’t move him.". But when she got to the station 400m away, she was told there were no water reserves in local fire hydrants.
Panicked Shelley rushed back to her home with firefighters - and tragically found their cottage "burned to the ground". She added: "He died with carbon monoxide poisoning, rather than burning. "I didn’t want any pain for my baby. … It was my baby, and he died needlessly.".
![[A car drives past homes and vehicles destroyed by the Palisades Fire]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/car-drives-past-homes-vehicles-963328798_828ed0.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
In a heart-wrenching social media post, Shelley hailed Rory - who appeared on 90s TV show Kiddy Kapers as a child - as a "wonderful son" who had "overcome so much". Las Virgenes Municipal Water denied Shelley's claims, however, and said the "water service did remain available and uninterrupted to her property and the entire surrounding community".
![[Firefighters extinguish a fire as the Palisades Fire burns]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/firefighters-extinguish-fire-palisades-fire-963358045.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
