A 1990s British-born TV personality who found fame in Australia has died aged 32 from carbon monoxide poisoning during the Los Angeles wildfires, his mother has revealed.
Rory Sykes, who was born blind and had cerebral palsy, rose to prominence on the Australian reality TV series Kiddy Kapers, documenting his life and journey.
He was living with his mother Shelley in Los Angeles when the tragedy occurred earlier this week. Shelley said she had tried to extinguish the flames but discovered their water supply had been turned off.
“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,” Shelley told Australian media.
She said that she rushed to find local firefighters to help but when they returned they found that the cottage had been destroyed.
“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 continued.
“Even the 50 brave firefighters had no water all day!”
Sixteen people have now been confirmed to have died in the wildfires, which have been raging since Tuesday. Although it is not expected that this will be the final death toll once further probes are completed.
Sykes settled in Australia after Kiddy Kapers and also appeared on Channel 9 talk show Kerri-Anne. He and Shelley talked about his conditions and how they had worked to try to restore his sight. Living in Sydney, he most recently worked as a video game streamer.
It is understood he had recently moved to LA.
“Rory was born blind with cerebral palsy & had difficulty walking,” Shelley wrote on social media.
“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.”
