Sophie Delezio

Sophie Joy Delezio (born 3 April 2001) is an Australian schoolgirl, the first daughter of Ron Delezio and Carolyn Martin and younger sister of Mitchell Delezio. She gained media attention when she was involved in an accident at the Roundhouse Childcare Centre in Fairlight, Sydney Australia, where she suffered third-degree burns to 85% of her body and was hospitalised for Several weeks where she lost both her legs. Her family has since then become major fundraisers and activists for victims who suffered conditions as Sophie's, and have also assisted in fundraising for the Children's Hospital at Westmead in Westmead. Sophie became known by the media and the public in Sydney as "Little Sophie".

First accident

Sophie first came to the attention of the public on 15 December 2003 when she and Molly Wood, both two years old at the time, were badly injured when they were trapped under a burning car which had crashed through a gate into the Roundhouse Childcare Centre at Fairlight in Sydney, Australia. Sophie suffered burns to 85% of her body and lost both feet, some fingers, and her right ear. Molly Wood suffered burns to 40% of her body, but has since made a good recovery. Sophie was released from Westmead Children's Hospital on Monday 21 June 2004 at 11 am. The circumstances of the accident, and the rescue of the children by passers by and members of the emergency services (for which a number received bravery awards) made them the subject of national news coverage.

The driver who crashed into the child care centre, Donald John McNeall, was 68 at the time of the accident. He was cleared of negligent driving before a magistrate's court after medical experts agreed he had had a seizure.

In late 2004 Sophie's parents founded the Day of Difference Foundation, a charity dedicated to raising funds for research into pediatric burns and related diseases.

In January 2006, Sophie was enrolled at the publicly funded Balgowlah Heights Public School. The school was extensively refurbished to accommodate the needs of Sophie.

Due to the driver not being found liable, nobody was responsible for Sophie's extensive medical costs. However the driver's compulsory third party insurance provider, the National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA), covered the costs ex-gratia. Due to this loophole in insurance coverage the NSW government introduced the Children's Special Benefit for children under 16 where no insurance coverage is available and later introduced a similar scheme to cover third parties of any age injured in an accident where nobody is liable called "Blameless Accidents".

Second accident

On 5 May 2006 Sophie made national headlines a second time when she was again badly injured in a road accident. While being pushed across a pedestrian crossing in a wheelchair (by her nanny with her service dog Tara by her side) near her home in Sydney's northern beaches, she was hit by a car and thrown 18 metres. Sophie suffered a heart attack, a broken jaw and shoulder bone, bruising to her head, numerous rib fractures and a tear to her left lung. She was treated at the Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick.

She left hospital and returned home to continue her recovery on 7 June 2006.

An 80-year-old man, John George Sharman, was charged in relation to the second accident with "dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and not giving way to a pedestrian on a crossing". Having pleaded guilty Sharman was in October 2006 placed on a good behavior bond for 18 months and suspended from driving for a year.

Sophie's father maintained that while accidents do happen, reconstruction of the pedestrian crossing in question must be commenced, due to the number of incidents occurring.

On 16 July 2006 Sophie's story was told on Channel 7's True Stories series.

Sophie Delezio returned to classes at Balgowlah Heights Public School on Thursday, 20 July 2006.

As of June 2011, it has been reported that she aspires to be a paralympic swimmer.

Public response

As a result of Sophie Delezio's accident over $2 million has been raised, along with heightened public awareness for the need for adequate support and services for pediatric burns patients. Some of these funds were raised at the Kids 4 Kids Benefit Concert held on 10 September 2006. The Government of New South Wales has announced that it is investigating the possibility of reducing the age for mandatory medical checks for drivers from 80 to 75 years of age. It has agreed to install traffic lights at the crossing where the accident occurred.

Ron Delezio

Sophie's father, Ron Delezio

Ron Delezio of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia is the father of Sophie Delezio as well as fundraiser for charity. On 1 September 2006 he was named as the 2006 Australian Father of the Year award recipient. He was also nominated as Australian of the Year. He is founder and present chairman of the Day of Difference Foundation, an Australian charity focusing on the prevention and control of burn-related diseases. In July 2010 it was announced he would be the Liberal Candidate for the Division of Banks. At the subsequent election he was unsuccessful despite an increase in the first preference vote in the seat for the Liberals of more than 10%.

Further reading

• Collings, Sally (2007). Sophie's Journey (1st ed. ed.). HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd. doi:10: 0732285526. ISBN 9780732285524.  and recently published a book about his journey through the Journey, both Ron and Carolyn are both writing about their experiences. Also in this book there are several letters to Sophie that were published.

External links

• Happy 10th birthday Sophie! - The Daily Telegraph
• Sophie Delezio's father lashes out at Labor
• The sister act that brought Molly home
• Site established by Sophie's parents for wellwishers' messages
• Claxton Speakers International - Ron Delezio
• Day of Difference Foundation - Charity established by Sophie's parents that raises funds for burns victims
• Sophie book coming 17 April
• Out of the Wreckage - transcript and audio of interview of Sophie's parents on the Spirit of Things on ABC Radio National (April 2009)