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Every Australian knows Sophie Delezio’s name: the little girl who was nearly killed when a burning car crashed through the wall of her northern beaches childcare centre, landing directly on top of her.
Sophie suffered third-degree burns to most of her body and lost both her feet and one hand in the incident.
Then, tragedy struck a second time when she was hit by a car at a pedestrian crossing when she was five years old.
But fast forward more than a decade and Sophie has a remarkably positive outlook on life. Now 17 years old (the above photo is from 2008) and a proud P-plater, she told TODAY that she’s looking forward to finishing high school.
“I’m currently completing Year 12, and I am still rowing, and acting, and just trying to get through this year,” Sophie says.
“Each surgery I have makes it easier for me to move and do certain things so, just kind of that attitude of ‘just get through this so you can do this.’”
“Knowing that I can’t change who I am, I just have to push through and get on with life,” she adds.
After her first accident, Sophie’s parents, Ron and Carolyn Delezio, founded charity A Day Of Difference, which is dedicated to supporting the families of critically injured children, as well as the hospitals that treat them and critical injury research.
This article originally appeared on marie claire.
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