MALIBU—Former child star and motivational speaker Rory Sykes, died on Wednesday, January 8 as a result of fires in the Malibu region his mother Shelley Sykes first reported on X. Rory was born blind and suffered from Cerebral Palsy.
“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,” Shelley said Thursday. “He overcame so much with surgeries & therapies to regain his sight & to be able to learn to walk. Despite the pain, he still enthused about traveling the world with me from Africa to Antarctica…He will be incredible missed.”
Shelley reported she attempted to try to put out cinders on his roof with a hose, but was unable to do so because the water was switched off. “Even the 50 brave firefighters had no water all day,” Shelley shared on X. She added, “the water was switched off by @LVMWD Las Virgenes Municipal Water.”
It has been reported that water was shut off and many fire hydrants had no water or water pressure to help combat the Palisades Fire which has destroyed hundreds of properties in Pacific Palisades, Malibu and other areas.
Rory was born in 1992 in the United Kingdom, but moved to Australia as a child to attend school. He was staying at the family’s 17-acre “Mount Malibu TV Studio estate” at the time of his death. He made appearances as a kid on the British show “Kiddy Kapers” in 1998 and on the series “Mornings with Kerri-Anne” in 2003. He was a professional speaker and worked as a consultant for companies that included the Cerebral Palsy Alliance and for the Tony Robbins Foundation. H co-founded Happy Charity.
“He saw him self as the number one fan of @Apple & @tim_cook & most importantly an avid @RuneScape gamer,” Shelley posted on X.
The Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth, and Hurst fires have destroyed thousands of acres in Southern Los Angeles and led to the death of 16 people the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office noted. Eleven people were killed as a result of the Eaton Fire and five people were killed from the Palisades Fire. The Palisades Frie which broke out on Tuesday is only 11 percent contained as of Saturday night. The Kenneth Fire has been reported at 90 percent contained as of Saturday night.
Governor Gavin Newsom has been facing scrutiny over his handling of the wildfires as a mother on Thursday, January 9 was captured on camera asking him to address the cause of the wildfires and what is being done to help those impact. Newsom lied when he said was on the phone speaking with President Joe Biden about the situation. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has also been scrutinized for not addressing issues pertaining to the lack of water or no water in fire hydrants for firefighters to battle the wildfires.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Crowley expressed to Fox 11 that budget cuts impacted the department’s ability to battle the wildfires. A ton of celebrities have lost their homes as a result of the wildfires including Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, Spencer and Heidi Pratt, Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, Eugene Levy, John Goodman, Miles Teller, Billy Crystal, Jeff Bridges and Anna Faris to name a few.
By Trevor