Rory Callum Sykes, a British-born former child actor, has sadly passed away.
Our findings show that the former child star tragically in the wildfires that have devastated California this week.
Sykes, known for his role in the Australian TV series Kiddy Kapers, passed away at the age of 32 while at his family’s home in Malibu.
The actor’s mother, Shelley Sykes, who also starred in the 1998 reality series, announced the very heartbreaking news on X/Twitter. Shelley wrote: “It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of my beautiful son @Rorysykes to the Malibu fires yesterday.”
Before his tragic passing, Rory Callum Sykes was more recently recognized as a video game streamer, had been living in Sydney, Australia, before recently immigrating to the United States. Born blind and with cerebral palsy, he and his mother appeared on the Australian talk show Kerri-Anne during his childhood to discuss the surgeries that restored his sight.
His mother revealed that he was living in a cottage on his family’s expansive Malibu estate when the fires erupted.
She wrote: “I couldn’t put out the cinders on his roof with a hose because the water was switched off by Las Virgenes Municipal Water. Even the 50 brave firefighters had no water all day.”
She explained, understandably, that she was “heartbroken” by her son’s death, going further to describe him as a “true humanitarian”.
She wrote: “Rory was born blind with cerebral palsy & had difficulty walking. 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.”
The Los Angeles fires, which ignited on Tuesday, January 7, have claimed the lives of at least 11 people, with the confirmed death toll expected to rise in the coming days. Sykes’ death has not yet been included in the official count.
The fires in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton areas are among the most destructive in California’s history.
Actor Jennifer Garner is among those who has lost someone in the fires. The visibly emotional actor revealed this while distributing food to evacuees with the nonprofit organization World Central Kitchen.
She said: “I did lose a friend, and for our church, it’s really tender so I don’t feel like we should talk about her yet. I did lose a friend who did not get out in time.”
“My heart bleeds for my friends,” she continued. “I mean, I can think of 100 families, and there are 5,000 homes lost. I can – without even [thinking] – I could just write out a list of 100 friends who lost their homes.”
