As a child, Sophie Delezio was thrust into the national spotlight after two unimaginable accidents, each unbelievably cruel and shocking, saw her left with severe injuries.
Her story will forever be etched into the psyche of Australians, many of whom begged the question of how one child could be faced with so much hardship and pain so early on in their life.
Just days before Christmas in 2003, an out-of-control car ploughed through her Sydney daycare centre in Fairlight, trapping her underneath.
As a result, the then two-year-old suffered third-degree burns to 85% of her small body and lost both her feet, several fingers, and an ear.
She spent almost an entire year in hospital recovering.
Two-and-a-half years later as Sophie was being pushed by her nanny in her stroller at a road crossing, a car careened into her, throwing her 18 meters.
As a result, she suffered a broken jaw and shoulder, bruising, a tear in her left lung, numerous rib fractures, a heart attack, and a lifelong brain injury that impacts her ability to learn.
The nation shared in their collective grief and heartache for Sophie, the little girl who had endured so much.
Not giving up
But over the years, and despite her tough start to life, Sophie’s overwhelming positivity has been infectious, her trademark smile staying with her as she has grown into a vivacious young woman.
The now 24-year-old has never let her accidents, or the lifelong disabilities they left her with get in the way of a rich and rewarding life.
“In my mind, I’m not ‘Sophie the girl with no legs’ but someone completely normal. I think of myself as Sophie the chatterbox, the socialite, the girl who loves a good hamburger and enjoys each day as much as she can,” she has previously shared with our sister publication The Australian Women’s Weekly.
“Everything is a choice,” she adds.
“You can choose not to see the positive in things. You can choose to just focus on the negatives and wallow in pity. Everyone is allowed to grieve but you also need to look at the beauty in the world.”
From her fundraising efforts and activism work to support those with similar injuries to her dreams of becoming a Paralympic athlete, studying abroad, working as a journalist and keynote speaker, and travelling the world, nothing stands in her way.
Starting a family
She’s even fallen in love and welcomed her son Frankie in September 2024, her with childhood sweetheart Joseph Salerno.
“Welcome to the world, Frankie. Our hearts are so full,” she wrote alongside a sweet photo of her newborn holding his Dad’s hand.
Parenthood put their wedding plans on pause, but Sophie and Joseph tied the knot in the NSW Hunter Valley on April 12, 2025.
The sweet milestone follows Joseph’s romantic Valentine’s Day proposal in 2023.
“There is so much hardship in life, why not just take the beautiful moments and hold onto them? Hold onto the beautiful things in your life as much as possible – and that’s what we do,” Sophie shared of her relationship with our sister publication Woman’s Day in 2023 after the engagement.
Prior to her special day, she co-purchased an apartment with her husband where they happily reside.
Sophie also underwent surgery on her legs in the latter half of 2023 to help with her mobility and help her walk down the aisle on her wedding day.
Carving out a career
In 2024, Sophie landed a major television gig with Channel Seven where she joined the team at 7NEWS Spotlight as a presenter.
But this wasn’t her first foray into journalism – the 24-year-old previously wrote columns for Body+Soul magazine where she interviewed inspirational people.
“I hope to be able to connect strangers to each story – to show the beauty behind the pain of these incredible people,” Sophie explained at the time.
While she told her followers that 2024 was the best year of her life, before her wedding, she shared it was hard balancing her work and personal life.
“Being a creator and a new mum means there’s no such thing as maternity leave. There’s no pause button to soak in the joy of newborn life. It’s a job where you commit to sharing your world, the highs, the lows while juggling everything else in between,” she said.
