Former Australian child star Rory Sykes, who was born blind and suffered from cerebral palsy, died in the California wildfires on Wednesday after his mother said she could not save him from their home, which was engulfed in flames

“It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my beautiful son @Rorysykes in the Malibu fires yesterday. “I am completely heartbroken,” Shelley Sykes wrote in a post on X on Thursday, calling him “a wonderful son.”

Rory Sykes, 32, was born blind and had difficulty walking because of cerebral palsy, his mother said. The actor, who starred in the late ’90s British TV show “Kiddy Kapers,” lived in a cottage on his family’s 17-acre Malibu estate.

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Shelley Sykes said the Palisades Fire burned Wednesday because she “couldn’t put out the ashes on its roof with a hose” because of a lack of water. The Palisades Fire broke out Tuesday and has since expanded to more than 22,000 acres, destroying about 5,000 structures.

Shelley Sykes told Australia’s 10 News First that she had a broken arm and was unable to lift or move her son.

“He said, ‘Mom, leave me.’ And no mother could abandon her child,” she said, crying.

Shelley Sykes said she drove to the local fire department to get help but was told they had no water. She said that when the fire department brought her back, Rory’s “cabin had burned to the ground.”

According to 10 News First, firefighters told the mother that her son died of carbon monoxide poisoning in the wildfire. His death was not officially included in the wildfire death toll, the station reported.

Officials said at least 11 people died in the wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Firefighters continue to battle the fires that have burned 39,000 acres in the Los Angeles area since Saturday.