Mother of ex-child star killed in California fires shares heartbreaking story about having to leave him to die

There has been plenty of tragedy coming out of the fires in California, but Shelley Sykes shared one of the most heartbreaking on social media Saturday.

Sykes is the mother of former child acting star Rory Sykes.

Rory, she explained, was born with cerebral palsy, was blind and had difficulty walking.

“He overcame so much with surgeries and therapies to regain his sight & to be able to learn to walk,” she wrote in a post on X. “Despite the pain, he still enthused about traveling the world with me from Africa to Antarctica.”

Rory Sykes died on Jan. 8 in the fires, according to his mother. He was just 32. And what makes his death particularly heartbreaking is that Shelley says she tried to save her son.

She said Rory had his own cottage on their 17-acre estate in Malibu, and that when cinders jumped to his roof she was not able to put them out with a hose because the water was switched off.

“Even the 50 brave firefighters had no water all day!” she added.

She said she couldn’t lift her son and carry him out because she had a broken arm.

“He said, ‘Mom leave me,’ and no mom can leave their kid,” she told Australia’s 10 News First. “And I’ve got a broken arm, I couldn’t lift him. I couldn’t move him.”

Fans and followers were quick to send prayers and well-wishes. You can see her post and their responses, here.

Rory Sykes played in the British TV series “Kiddy Kapers” in 1998.

He also became a professional speaker, who worked with the Tony Robbins Foundation and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.