Sophie Delezio, the brave little girl who suffered burns to 85 per cent of her body when a car slammed into a daycare centre, has grown into a confident young woman about to leave home and travel overseas. She shares her quest for freedom with Michael Sheather.
Sophie Delezio remembers the precise moment she fell in love with London. “Mum and I were walking through the centre of the city,” recalls Sophie, a pretty, spirited young woman about to turn 18. “I was 15 at the time and Mum and I went to London. It was the two of us, so it was a girls’ trip.
“We’d been to visit Kensington Gardens and were walking back. It came over all cloudy and drizzly, and then a freezing wind sprang up. I could feel the chilly air on my hands and face, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘I love this’. I love that feeling of having to rug up against the cold in winter woolies. It was like a winter wonderland – all the Christmas decorations, all the food, all the people. Everything about it held on to me and I instantly fell in love with it. Right then, decided that one day I would make London my home.”
Sophie, the little girl who won Australia’s heart with her bravery and endurance after a horrific car accident at a Sydney daycare centre in 2003, is about to turn that dream into a reality.
After completing high school last year, Sophie has applied for entrance to study sociology and international relations at no less than five top-ranking English universities, four of them in London. Her choices mean that she must now forge a new life for herself in a new city and country – half a world away from the comfortable and supportive upbringing that she experienced at her family’s home on Sydney’s North Shore.
“Yes, a part of me is a little nervous about moving away,” says Sophie, the daughter of Ron Delezio, a former electrician, and his wife Carolyn Martin, a teacher. “Yet there is another part of me that is very excited. In fact, I can’t wait to go. I know there are going to be tears when I get on the plane, but I know that will only be for a few moments.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2019-Ausgabe von The Australian Women's Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2019-Ausgabe von The Australian Women's Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
