An Australian celebrated in his own country and the United Kingdom for his success in overcoming his disability has died in the Los Angeles wildfires, his mother announced on X.

Shelley Sykes wrote of her sadness as she confirmed that her 32-year-old son Rory Sykes, who previously appeared in the media as a boy talking about being born blind and living with cerebral palsy and later worked as a motivational speaker, was in the house his family died in Malibu on Wednesday.

She wrote on Thursday: “It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my beautiful son Rory Sykes in the Malibu fires yesterday.”

She added that she was “completely heartbroken” over the loss of her “wonderful son.”

People magazine reports that British-born Sykes had lived in Sydney, Australia, before recently moving to the United States.

His mother wrote that Sykes was staying in a cottage on his family’s 17-acre Malibu estate when he died, and that she was unable to put out the ashes on the roof of her son’s cottage because the water was turned off.

People reports that amid criticism over reports of water shortages, L.A. officials said there was a temporary drop in water pressure and some water tanks were empty due to “tremendous demand.”