A mother in Los Angeles shared the heartbreaking story of her son’s final moments during the wildfires in the area. Her son, Rory, a former British child star who was blind and had cerebral palsy, expressed his last words as “leave me” before passing away.
Rory Callum Sykes, 32, lost his life when his self-contained cottage on his mother’s estate in Malibu, California, burned down on Thursday.
Shelley Sykes, Rory’s mother, faced immense challenges trying to reach the emergency services to evacuate her son from their home as the flames closed in on their property. She had to rush to the local fire department for help amidst the chaos.
She was suffering a broken arm at the time of the tragedy, meaning she had not been able to evacuate her 6ft 5in son on her own.
‘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,’ she revealed.
‘He was my baby, and he died needlessly,’ the mother added. ‘Guess what didn’t work? 911. All the phone lines were down.’
Ms Sykes drove 400 metres to her local fire station to ask for help and was told they had ‘no water’, Australian TV channel Network 1 reported.
‘When the fire department brought me back, his cottage was burned to the ground,’ the mother said.
Ms Sykes said her son, who appeared on TV show Kiddy Kapers as a child, died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Contrary to Shelley’s claims, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water disputed her statements by affirming that water service was continuously available to their property and the surrounding community during the wildfire crisis as reported in the US media.
Rory was born blind with cerebral palsy, had difficulty walking and worked as a motivational speaker.
‘I’m totally heartbroken,’ his mother said in a heartfelt post on social media.
She described Rory, a British-born Australian citizen, as a ‘wonderful son’ who ‘overcame so much with surgeries and therapies to regain his sight and to be able to learn to walk’.
‘Despite the pain, he still enthused about travelling the world with me from Africa to Antarctica,’ she wrote.
Rory had his own cottage on his mother’s 17-acre Malibu estate when the property was engulfed by fire this week.
‘I couldn’t put out the cinders on his roof with a hose because the water was switched off by Las Virgenes Municipal Water,’ she said.
‘Even the 50 brave firefighters had no water all day!’
The death toll from the wildfires rose to 16 as crews battled to cut off the spreading blazes before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames towards some of the city’s most famous landmarks.
Jason Oppenheim, star of US reality programme Selling Sunset, has claimed landlords are taking advantage of people being displaced by the fires which began on Tuesday, just north of central LA, and have burned more than 12,000 structures.
Since offering to represent those who have lost their homes for free, the reality star said Oppenheim Group agents have ‘received dozens and dozens of calls from people who have lost their homes in the fires’.
‘It’s all hands on deck right now, but it’s really difficult because there are thousands of people who are displaced without places to stay,’ he told BBC One programme Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
‘The hotels are overwhelmed all the way down to Newport Beach and even into San Diego you can’t get a hotel room right now.
‘And even, unfortunately – and this is something that I want to discuss, because I think it should be exposed – but we’re having landlords taking advantage of the situation.
‘I had a client, we sent him to a house that was asking $13,000 (£10,600) a month.
‘He offered $20,000(£16,400) a month, and he offered to pay six months up front. And the landlord said, “No, I want $23,000(£18,800) a month”.
‘You know, there are price-gouging laws in California that are just being ignored right now.
‘And this isn’t the time to be taking advantage of situations, and it’s also illegal to take advantage of a natural disaster.’
EastEnders actress Patsy Palmer and Star Wars actor Mark Hamill were among the celebrities who described how their homes had survived the wind-driven fires.
US reality star Paris Hilton launched an emergency fund to support families who have been displaced, starting it with a personal donation of $100,000 (£82,000) after she watched her Malibu home ‘burn to the ground on live TV’.
Actors Mel Gibson, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, Billy Crystal, Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg are among the other stars who have lost their homes.
The Hills stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, talk show host Ricki Lake, and songwriter Diane Warren have also lost properties, with reports that Sir Anthony Hopkins’ home burned to the ground in the Pacific Palisades fire.
Grammy-nominated musician Halsey said she was evacuated from a home she had recently moved into and added: ‘Can’t even wrap my head around this.’
US actress Jennifer Garner was among the stars volunteering, providing food relief for evacuees and the emergency services, working alongside World Central Kitchen founder chef Jose Andres at one of the charity’s pop-up locations around California.
Standing amid the rubble of her home town of 25 years, an emotional Garner told US outlet MSNBC: ‘I did lose a friend, and for our church it’s really tender, so I don’t feel like I should talk about her yet.
‘I did lose a friend who did not get out in time.’
Other stars including X Factor judge Simon Cowell used their platforms to share links to evacuation resources and donation pages.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited a meal distribution site, hugging people and speaking to emergency crews on Friday.
Oscar-nominated actress Sharon Stone encouraged stars to make donations to a distribution centre, which prompted Academy Award winner Halle Berry to pack up ‘my entire closet’ to ‘help all of the displaced families that are in need of the basics’.
After members of the Kardashian family were reportedly evacuated from their homes, matriarch Kris Jenner said her family approached their favourite Armenian restaurant to ‘feed a few fire houses’.
Kim Kardashian said she had ‘spoken to many firefighters who are up all night long using every ounce of their strength to save our community’.
Entertainment company LiveNation said a charity concert, FireAid, will take place at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, ‘dedicated to rebuilding communities devastated by wildfires and supporting efforts to prevent future fire disasters throughout southern California’.
The event is billed as an ‘evening of music and solidarity’ and will take place on January 30, with performers yet to be announced.
TV host Melissa Rivers told CNN she managed to save the Emmy awarded to her late mother, comedian and actress Joan Rivers, while fleeing her home.
The fires have thrown Hollywood’s awards season into disarray, with the Critics Choice Awards and Producers Guild Awards nominations among the events postponed.
