Original subtitles

In this series, I meet some amazing Australians...

That's not journalism, that's churnalism.

I also like to test my own limits.

..as they tell me their fascinating stories.

Hey, sexy, your turn for the garbage.

I put paint on the canvas...

There I was, about to win the Melbourne Cup.

..and tried to capture elements of their personality.

"I'm gonna be a world champion!"

"Pipe down, Gidget. You haven't even won a contest yet."

I was about 48 hours away from...dying.

The portrait is theirs to keep, so I hope they like it.

Oh, that's nice. Wow.

(SQUEALS AND LAUGHS)

Oh, my heavens!

(LAUGHS) Wow.

Welcome to Anh's Brush With Fame.

Sophie Delezio is a born survivor.

As a toddler, she was badly burnt

when a car crashed into her childcare centre and caught fire.

Mummy rub your tummy?

The nation got behind her recovery.

NEWSREADER: A beaming face through the top-to-bottom bandages.

But just a couple of years later,

her life was thrown into jeopardy once again.

Little burns victim Sophie Delezio

has been hit by a car and is on life support.

Sophie, now 18, continues to make the most of her life.

I wanna know how she defied the odds to fight for her independence.

SOPHIE: I'm so excited.

I've never had my portrait painted before,

so I don't know how it's gonna go.

I hope that my personality shows, like, my fun-loving nature,

and hope, like, maybe Anh sees it as well.

Just as long as it captures who I am, that'd be cool.

Sophie Delezio has been taught to be strong.

By the time she was three, she was already battling injuries

that would shape the rest of her life.

In the most difficult of circumstances,

she found strength and positivity.

I want to capture that optimism and resilience.

Hi. Sophie.

Oh, what a joy to have you on the show.

Oh, thank you so much. So excited to be here.

We got lots to talk about.

Take a seat. Thank you.

So good to have you here, Sophie.

Thank you so much.

You're the youngest of two children. Mm-hm.

What were you like as a little kid?

A chatterbox, my parents would definitely say.

I had very strong opinions, and it was my way.

(CHUCKLES) Very bossy as well.

How close are you to your brother, Mitchell?

We have a typical sibling relationship, I would say.

Growing up, it was very, um... you know, he was the older brother.

He had authority over me kind of thing.

But, you know, he's always been very protective.

Like, when we were younger, if anyone stared at me,

he would death-stare them back and that was his, like, weapon.

He's just very protective and lovely.

Let's go back to 2003. Yeah.

You're sleeping at preschool.

Yeah. You're two years old.

Yeah. And then what happened?

Well, then a car came, uh... crashed into the school.

The man who was in the car had a seizure

and his foot was on the accelerator.

So, the wheel kept on spinning and the friction caused a fire.

MAN: As it penetrated the front wall,

it actually trapped a number of children under the vehicle.

10 people were injured, 2 of these quite serious.

How severe were your injuries?

So, I lost both my legs below the knee,

which I'm very thankful for,

because, like, that has at least given me a bit more movement.

My right hand, my ear.

A lot of internal injuries.

Internal injuries in the sense of shock

and, like, my body kinda went into, "What's going on?"

Sophie's injuries were so severe

that her mum and dad, Carolyn and Ron,

were asked a question no parent wants to hear.

That's alright, bub. (CRIES)

You're in hospital.

85% burns to your body.

Mm-hm, third-degree.

They gave your mum and dad the option of turning off life support.

Yeah.

It's such a wild thought that, you know,

a simple "yes", I would not be here.

But my parents are so strong and they knew there was hope

and they just held on to that tiny strand of, "What if?"

And here I am.

Have you ever talked to Mum and Dad about that decision?

Um... Actually, no.

I think it's just something that's always gone unspoken for our family.

Just because we knew it was an option, and they chose no.

It's as simple as that. They chose to hold on.

2.5 years after the car crashed into the preschool,

Sophie was in her stroller

being pushed across a pedestrian crossing

when she was hit by a car.

I was crossing the road and a driver got blinded by the sun

and didn't see that I was crossing and hit my stroller.

And I flew 18 metres and landed in the pavement.

Everything was internal.

So, only internal injuries.

I had brain damage.

I think I went into cardiac arrest a few times.

Like, it was very, um...intense.

But to this day, the only thing that affected me from that accident was

I still suffer a bit from my brain damage.

So, learning, I've always had a tutor.

And there's certain things that I've always struggled with.

And I have no sense of smell.

Those are the only two things that are permanent from that one.

But at the time, it was traumatic.

Like, I think it was, like, nine broken ribs

and all this stuff happened.

(CHUCKLES) See, I don't know the full extent of my injuries.

I just know it was a lot.

(CRIES)

Sophie was put into an induced coma

and spent almost five weeks in hospital,

a place that was now all too familiar and would be for years to come.

All the surgeries I have now is to keep on fixing what happened,

like, as in the sense of skin releases,

'cause I have scars that get too tight.

And, like, I can't lift my right arm all the way up in the air,

like, up straight, whereas I can with my left.

So, we've had around five surgeries to try and fix that.

Normal skin grows as you grow, but scarred skin doesn't.

Yeah, one of the most major surgeries

I used to have every year when I was younger

was I used to have my legs trimmed because my legs were so badly burnt,

and my skin wouldn't grow, but my bones would keep on growing.

So, we basically had to cut them back every year just to stop them,

'cause it would cause these major wounds.

So, you're cutting the bone back? Yeah, yeah.

See, it sounds major to everyone,

whereas I was just like, "Oh, yeah, having it done again."

It literally was every year I had it done,

so it was such a normal thing for me, which sounds very weird.

And, I mean, what's that like?

I'd go in, they'd trim it,

and then I'd have bandages on my legs for two months, around.

And it would be... recovery was always a lot of work,

because my body has a very low immune system,

so infections... I'm prone to infections.

And I've had a lot of surgeries fail because of infections, so...

It was weird.

Every year, I had to get new prosthetic legs,

because my legs would change shape.

That was probably the most, like, annoying part for me.

But every year, whenever I got new legs,

I'd get my prosthetist to extend them,

and so I'd become taller.

So, I don't know what my actual height is.

But, you know, I'm still small, but, you know, it's OK.

So, you can order? Yep.

"Gimme a bit more. Gimme another couple of inches."

Now that I'm 18, he's more like,

"OK, I'll extend it by, like, half a centimetre."

And I'm like, "I wanna be tall!"

MAN: Just turn around.

Sophie's life has been a series of medical appointments and operations.

Her positivity and sense of gratitude is humbling.

Honestly, half the procedures I have done,

don't really know what actually happens.

I just know the effects.

For example, how I got hair.

Like, I had very little hair

and I had these procedures called "tissue expanders"

that basically stretched the skin where I had hair follicles

and stretched it over my head

to, like, let me have hair all over my head.

I started off with just a strip of hair, really.

And then, every week, you'd inject it with saline

to stretch the skin.

And after, like, two months or something,

they'd basically, like, pop it and stretch it all over my head

as much as they could.

And I have no idea about the science behind it.

All I know is it stretched my skin and I have hair.

It sounds like you're grateful for those.

So much, yeah.

Like, especially for me.

Like, hair is such a distinct feature.

Like, I've tried wigs, but because of my sensitive skin,

it irritates and I get hot very easily

because grafted skin can't release heat.

So, most of my body holds in the heat.

So, wigs never worked for me personally because of that.

So, extensions, like, I got them...

..oh, like, three years ago now when I was in Year 10.

And it gave me so much confidence with it

and, like, with, like, who I am.

And I think that was...

Yeah, like, I can't imagine what I'd be without it.

Sophie received a massive amount of help from the community,

from fundraising events to global prayer chains,

but through it all, the strongest support

came from her parents, who never gave up.

All the times that I've spent in hospital,

The special moments between my dad and I, or my mum and I,

have been those moments just before I go into surgery.

Surgeries for me, when I was younger,

I had a lot of irrational fears about it.

Like, I used to freak out about the gas masks.

And just those moments of my parents calming me down were so special,

and, like, I'll always hold in my heart,

because that was one of the things

that I was most terrified of as a child.

That was my biggest fear, was those gas masks.

MAN: Great. Thanks very much.

Both parents had their own speech they'd have prepared.

Mum's was always, "Go to your happy place,"

and then she'd name, like, all these moments

that we've had...done together, like, these special moments.

And Dad was always just, you know, "You're strong, you can do this."

He was more of, like, the pep talk.

Like, "You got this!"

Your dad taught you to say, "I'm a strong girl." Is that right?

Yeah, so, that was one other thing that would happen before surgery.

And Dad made me, like, focus so much on shouting it

and just focus so much on what I was saying

that I forgot where I was, so...

You say, "Good girl, Tara." Good girl, Tara.

Tell me about Tara, the therapy dog? (LAUGHS)

Well, Tara was my first ever assistance dog.

She was the perfect assistance dog.

Like, whenever we went to bed,

because I was the youngest, I'd go to bed first.

She'd stay with me until I was asleep.

Go to my brother's room, wait till he was asleep.

Go to my parent's room, wait till they were asleep,

and then go to sleep herself.

She was just the perfect dog.

And she helped me learn how to walk in prosthetics.

When I walked down the stairs, I would take one step

down the stairs, and she would take a step and she'd wait for me.

And then I'd take another step and she'd take a step.

She was so helpful and such a good, like, support.

And, yeah, she was such a beautiful dog.

But tragically died at the age of six, which is very young.

What happened to her?

She had a very rare type of cancer.

It was only like 10% of her breed could get it.

It was very painful watching it.

And I was very young at the time, so...

And just seeing her deteriorate was very emotionally hard for me.

I think my parents always enforced the...

..like, "You had all those amazing times together.

"Like, be thankful you had that."

Like, with Tara, like, I'm so thankful

I had her to help me with everything.

And just, like, to have a play mate.

Like, my brother had a cat and I had my dog.

And just that kind of... we had those moments together.

You've just gotta be thankful for that.

Wow, sounds like your parents have taught you

to be thankful for everything we have and focus on that.

Yeah, they're amazing. They're pretty cool.

They ARE amazing. Yeah.

(LAUGHS) Oh! Wow!

Sophie has remarkable strength,

no doubt fostered by her incredible family.

The pain they all went through is unimaginable.

She is incredibly stoic, but also fun and full of joy.

I wanna capture her spark.

It's a testament to the strength of Sophie's parents

that after all they were doing for their daughter,

they still had the drive, energy and awareness to help others.

Your mum and dad started the charity Day of Difference Foundation.

Who does the charity help?

They wanted to help families like them and children...

..and, like, whether they're patients or siblings, in hospitals.

And they've raised so much money and it's such an amazing charity.

The charity's raised millions, hasn't it?

Yeah. So wonderful.

And they've just done so much work.

Like, in the later years,

they've been working on looking into parental care.

Because, obviously, thankfully my parents were so strong

and they had such an amazing support network,

with, like, their friends and family.

That helped them get through the time that I was in hospital,

but there's a lot of people out there that don't have that.

There's a lot of work needed in the family care area,

especially little kids.

Like, my brother was three or four when I had my accident.

He was just...you know, would sit in the corner

playing with his dinosaurs.

Yeah, it's easy to forget the brother.

Exactly, yeah. Yeah.

I don't know if you know this.

I was on Dancing With The Stars in 2007.

I remember sitting in my family room when we used to watch it.

Really? Yep.

So, you pick a charity, and I picked the Day of Difference.

And I remember this one week, I had to learn this dance

where I pick up my partner, put her on my neck

and she spins around and I take my hands down

and she continues to spin around my neck.

And I said to my wife, "This is too hard."

I just wasn't getting it.

And she said, "Anh, you know that every week you stay in,

"you help the charity."

And I went, "Oh, yeah, you're right."

So, I doubled my training time and I pulled off the moves, Sophie.

Oh, my God.

(UPBEAT MUSIC) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Your story touched a lot of people.

And it's your story, but just how you were and how your parents were.

Thank you.

I think Australia just saw your parents

and we just went, "Oh, wow."

Well, it's all thanks to my parents.

Like, I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for them.

Like, I feel like I can't even, like, take credit for it.

Like, it's them. Yeah, I think it's them.

And I think that you can take a bit of credit yourself.

Take a little bit. (BOTH LAUGH)

Sophie has faced many challenges in her life,

lots of them in the public eye.

Looking different means Sophie has to deal with something

most of us never have to.

I think when people stare at me, well, like little kids,

it's just them being curious.

And, yeah, there comes a point where they need to stop staring

and it can be counted as rude.

But it's when parents... Like, I've had adults stare.

And after a while it's just like, "You're staring."

Like, it's not a curiosity, it's just weird.

Did you ever get teased at school?

There were moments where...

..I never got bullied or anything, I wouldn't say that.

But I was definitely excluded from certain things

because people assumed that I couldn't do things.

You know, on paper, my disability can look a bit dramatic.

But then you meet me and I'm like, "Yeah, no, I've skydived.

"I go to the gym, like, five days a week."

Like... I hear...

I hear how much that sort of angers you.

Yeah. You know...

"Don't assume that I can't!"

I love that, Sophie.

Thank you. That's so cool.

Thank you.

Sophie's attitude has meant she's never let her disabilities

stand in the way of anything she's wanted to do.

She's always prepared to have a go.

Tell me about the sporting activities you've been doing?

So, oh, I've done swimming... can't remember how many years now.

And just, like, it was my first form of rehab.

And I was a water baby from when I was born.

I loved the water. I loved swimming.

And so I started competitively swimming for quite a few years.

And then I took up rowing,

'cause all my friends were doing it at school.

I did that for around four years.

And I did a few regattas and it was all so amazing.

You don't do much by half, do you? No.

So, Mum and Dad, really, they've just gone,

"Be a normal teenage..." Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, they never let anything get in my way as much as they could.

My dream was to go skydiving and everywhere in Australia said no.

But when I was on holidays in Queenstown, they said yes.

So, it was like, "OK, you're going skydiving."

Like, those amazing things, like, they just...

..took every opportunity that they could

to make my life as free as I can have it.

They just...

They never wanted my disability to define who I was

in the sense of, like, define what I can and can't do.

Sophie has an amazing attitude,

but still deals with the discomfort caused by her accidents,

which may never leave her.

How much pain is there?

Can you describe the pain for me? Um, OK.

So, I have one in my head still,

and it feels like a metal spoon is being stabbed into you.

A metal spoon? Yeah.

Rather than a knife? Yeah, 'cause it's blunt.

I can't remember who it was, but they were just like,

"I have this pain. It's like a metal spoon."

I was like, "Whoa, that's it." "That's the one."

Took me, like, a few years to figure that out.

But it would be such a major procedure to get out.

It would involve brain surgery.

And we're like, "We're gonna try to avoid that if we can."

You know, my head's been through a lot.

But also because I wear my prosthetics a lot.

And, you know,

I've always been told not to wear them as much as I do.

But, oh, well.

And, so, I have a lot of pressure wounds

at both the bottom of my stumps of my legs through weight bearing,

'cause my skin is so fragile because of the grafted skin.

So, I'm always taking, like...

Every morning, if I wear my prosthetics, I take painkillers.

That's, like, a constant.

As I brush my teeth, take painkillers kind of thing.

So, I've always been of that mind set of,

"Yes, it's gonna cause me pain, but also freedom."

Yes.

The freedom always outweighed the pain for me.

I remember for my Year 10 formal,

I really wanted to wear, like, high heels.

So, I got my prosthetist to make a whole pair of prosthetic legs

just for four-inch heels.

I still have them to this day.

All these things that we take for granted, Sophie, you don't.

Yeah, I've gotta be thankful for what I can do,

and just, you know, everything is pretty cool.

You've recently moved to London, where you're living by yourself.

Yes.

No carers, nothing.

Me, myself and I. Wow.

I always dreamt about studying overseas.

And then four years ago, I went to London with my mum.

It was just a girl's trip.

And I've never been so awe-struck by a city before.

I was just like, "Oh, my gosh, this is incredible."

And it was just one of those moments

that something just clicked in my head.

Like, "I have to move here. I have no other choice."

Like, "This has to happen."

And I turned 18.

A month and a bit later, I moved.

And... What was that like for Mum and Dad?

"Mum and Dad, I'm gonna go to London by myself?"

"Yeah, by the way, um..."

I think it was very emotional and all of that.

And Dad was emotional. (CHUCKLES)

Dad's the softie in our family.

(LAUGHS) Um, and...

But I think, for both of them,

it was just a kind of sense of pride as well,

knowing that they raised a child with a disability

to be able to do this.

And they just knew that I could do it.

And it was incredibly emotional, but, yeah.

Do you ever think, "Why me? Why twice?"

Uh, no.

Like, I know just some things happen to some people,

and sometimes they're not the best.

But, you know, it's like what my parents always taught me -

you gotta look at the positive side of every situation.

Like, it's been, you know...

I went through a lot, and I've suffered

and I've been in pain,

and it's horrible, but I've gotta look

at all the joy that has happened.

I wouldn't know the people I know, like my best friends.

Like, all my closest friends in the world to me, I wouldn't know.

Or, like, I wouldn't have gone to the schools I went to.

I went to four schools in my life.

Like, one primary school and three high schools.

And each school, I've created a best friend.

Like, a friend that I hold so dearly to me right now,

I wouldn't know them.

So, do you think you're lucky?

I would say, definitely.

(CHUCKLES) Well...

Yeah, like, I'm here.

(BOTH LAUGH)

So, yeah.

No matter what you go through,

there's always gonna be some positive,

even though you might not see it at the time.

Like, my parents, at the time of my accident,

all they could see is the horrible...

..like, what was happening at the time, and it was horrible.

But, I mean, look at it now.

Like, look at how much positivity it's brought.

But, you know, I think the positivity came out of their choice.

100%.

Just saying no to turning the life support off.

And I think, yeah, everything is a choice.

Like, you can choose not to see the positive in things.

You can you choose to just focus on the negatives

and just, you know, wallow in, like, pity, in the sense of, like...

Like, everyone's allowed to grieve, but look at the beauty in the world.

You know, whether it's the slightest thing, like,

go walk into a park and you see, like, a lot of trees

and you're like, "Wow, it's pretty.

Wow. That's amazing.

Your outlook is amazing. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Why do you think we've been put on this planet?

Honestly, it's one of those questions

that there will always be a million answers to.

There's no one correct answer. Like, just to live.

To create as much happiness and much joy and love

and, you know, positivity as, like, you can.

And, you know, change it for the next generation

and the next generation after that.

Just make the world a better place in any way.

That's like the best answer I've ever gotten to that question!

Oh! And you're 18!

Thank you. Yeah.

Wow. Aw.

(BOTH LAUGH)

Gosh! Thank you.

I am nearly finished. Oh, yay.

And I've really enjoyed painting your beautiful smile.

I'm just gonna need another 20 minutes or so to finish off

and then I'll bring you back

and I'll show you the finished painting.

Amazing. I'm so excited.

It was so amazing. I had the best time.

It was just so easy to open up

and it was just like talking to a friend.

A bit nervous to see what I look like.

I look at photos and I'm like,

"Oh, that's what I look like? Sure."

But I'm really excited to see it.

Sophie Delezio has such an inspiring attitude to life.

She's been through so much hardship,

yet she continues to beat the odds to live the life she wants to live.

I hope to capture her wonderful spirit.

I think I'm done.

OK, Sophie, I'm all done.

(CHUCKLES)

I very much enjoyed painting you today.

Oh, thank you so much. I've had so much fun.

You have such a beautiful and powerful presence about you.

Oh, thank you. Really powerful.

So, that's what I wanted to convey. Thank you so much.

I understand your dad's here as well. He is.

Can we bring Dad in for the reveal? Absolutely.

Ron, come on in, mate.

How are you? Great to see you again.

OK, so, with that, Sophie,

I need you to close your big beautiful blue eyes.

Ron, you, too. I got brown eyes.

(LAUGHS)

Don't open your eyes till I tell you. OK.

OK, guys, go for it.

Oh, my gosh. Wow!

That's spot-on. It's incredible.

That's such a positive look, Ahn. Oh, my God.

It's like a photograph of you, Soph.

That's incredible.

Oh, jeez, you've done a great job. Oh, my gosh.

You're amazing. Thank you.

Isn't that lovely? Look at your eyes.

I usually don't do a big smile,

but you have so much happiness about you...

Thank you.

..and I just had to put your beautiful smile in there.

Oh, thank you. Oh, it's beautiful.

Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you so much for having me.

It's been a joy and an honour. Oh!

Dad, come in for a hug.

Thanks, Anh. Oh, my gosh.

(LAUGHS) Good on you.

It was everything I imagined and more.

It was incredible. Oh, my gosh.

I definitely think Anh's captured my true personality

and it just shows my happiness and positivity.

Today has been incredible.

It's been so fun and just, yeah, full of laughter and happiness.

Yeah.

Sophie Delezio is an extraordinary young woman.

With her wonderful attitude, it seems like nothing can stand in her way.

It's been a joy getting to know her today.

Next time,

one of Australia's great characters

and his remarkable story.

And now I was doing what I wanted to do,

being paid to do what I wanted to do.

And I loved it.

I try to capture Jack Thompson's immense presence

and put it on the canvas.

Wow.