Former child star died ‘needlessly’ in LA wildfires, mother says as she shares agony

A British-born former child star, who was blind and had cerebral palsy, tragically lost his life in the Los Angeles wildfires, a disaster his mother claims could have been avoided.

Shelley Sykes attempted to contact emergency services but was unable to make it through. She was desperate to save her son Rory from the burning buildings. Shelley claimed she couldn’t leave her 6 foot 5 son alone because she was suffering a broken arm at the time of the incident.

In his final moments, she said he said to her: “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. Guess what didn’t work? 911. There were no downtime for any of the phone lines.

She requested assistance by contacting her neighborhood fire station 400 meters away, but the station said there was “no water.” “When the fire department brought me back, his cottage was burned to the ground”, the mother said. Rory, who appeared on TV show Kiddy Kapers as a child, died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Las Virgenes Municipal Water, however, disputes her claims, saying that “her property and the entire community were still receiving uninterrupted water service.” Meanwhile, Jason Oppenheim, star of US reality programme Selling Sunset, has accused landlords of exploiting those displaced by the fires, which started on Tuesday just north of central LA and have since destroyed more than 12, 000 structures.

The reality star, who has offered to represent those who lost their homes for free, revealed that Oppenheim Group agents have “received dozens and dozens of calls from people who have lost their homes in the fires.” He stated on BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuensberg that it is “all hands on deck right now,” but “it’s really difficult because there are thousands of people who are displaced without places to stay.”

Shockingly, he also exposed landlords taking advantage of the situation.

“I had a client, we sent him to a house that was asking 13, 000 dollars (£10, 600) a month. He offered 20, 000 dollars (£16, 400) a month, and he offered to pay six months up front. And the landlord said, ‘ No, I want 23, 000 dollars (18, 800) a month’. You are aware that California’s current price-gouging laws are being ignored.

He concluded: “And this isn’t the time to be taking advantage of situations, and it’s also illegal to take advantage of a natural disaster”.

Crews battle it out to stop the spreading fires before potentially strong winds return that could cause the flames to spread to some of the city’s most well-known landmarks, increasing the death toll from the wildfires to 16.

Follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

Source: Mirror