A grieving mother has shared the heartbreaking last words of her son who said “mum, leave me” before he died in the fires devastating Los Angeles.
Shelley Sykes said her beloved son Rory Callum Sykes, 32, lost his life on Thursday when the self-contained cottage he lived in on his mother’s estate in Malibu, California, was engulfed by flames.
Mr Sykes, who was born in Britain, was blind and had cerebral palsy, was a child star appearing in the 1988 British TV show Kiddy Kapers and his mother said in later life he was a huge fan of Apple devices and the computer game RuneScape.
Speaking to the Australian channel Network 10, Ms Sykes said she was suffering a broken arm which left her unable to evacuate her 6’5″ son and that the emergency number 911 wasn’t working because 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. 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 claimed her son succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning from the fire and that when she drove to a nearby fire station she was told they had “no water”.
She added: “When the fire department brought me back, his cottage was burned to the ground.”
Rory Sykes was born with blindness and cerebral palsy in July 1992, and became famous for his speeches on living with disability. He was the co-founder of the Happy Charity, which says on its website that it offers “Hope, Happiness and Health to those that are Hurting”.
Posting on X, Ms Sykes wrote: “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.
“British born Australian living in America, a wonderful son, a gift born on mine and his grandma’s birthday July 29, 92, Rory Callum Sykes.
“Rory was the founder with me of Happy Charity, a true humanitarian. He saw him self as the number one fan of Apple and Tim Cook and most importantly an avid RuneScape gamer.”
Ms Sykes added that her son will be “incredibly missed” by herself, his online fans and his two pet peacocks Edgee and Mickie.
Firefighters have struggled today (Sunday) to make further progress against wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 16 people in the Los Angeles area as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week.
The US National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions until Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 mph and gusts in the mountains reaching 70 mph.
The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, said weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson.