Who is Sophie Delezio? Double car crash survivor reveals she's marrying her high school sweetheart
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Sophie Delezio, who miraculously survived being in two car crashes, has announced her engagement to her high school sweetheart, Joseph Salerno. The 22-year-old sensation is getting married to her best friend-turned-lover Salerno, 23, after he reportedly popped the question on Valentine's Day.
Delezio notably became a household name in Australia after surviving horrific burns after a car crashed into her Sydney daycare in 2003, when she was just two years old. In 2006, when she was five, she was tragically run over by a car near her home and made yet another stunning recovery. Delezio first met Salerno in swimming class when she was six years old and the pair eventually became close in high school. They reconnected after Delezio moved back to Sydney from London in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, and the two became a couple.
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'I had no idea'
In a conversation with The Australian Women's Weekly, Delezio said it was a total surprise when Salerno presented her with a scrapbook that had a photo of a ring on the last page. "I had no idea," she said. In 2020, the inspirational woman returned to Australia from England where she had gone to study sociology and international relations. The pair got into a relationship in 2021. The following year, they traveled across 26 countries in a span of 10 months, including New Zealand where they met Salerno's grandparents before deciding to move in together.
Salerno began putting together a scrapbook using photos and mementos from their travels, including a picture of their engagement ring. "She turned to me and I was down on one knee bawling," Salerno told The Australian Woman's Weekly. "Our go-to song is 'Be My Baby' so I just asked if Sophie would be my baby and luckily she ticked the box on the back of the scrapbook that said yes."
According to Delezio, spending time apart after high school helped the lovebirds grow closer. "[We] needed to grow separately before [we] could come together," she said. "We both had our independence and experienced different relationships, which was nice, but still found each other again." That said, the pair is yet to set a date for the wedding ceremony.
Delezio is well-known in Australia for her 'miracle' recoveries
Australians rallied around Delezio when a car crashed through the window of her daycare at age two, trapping her underneath and causing severe burns that covered 85 percent of her body. The tragedy took both of her feet, several fingers, as well as her right ear. However, she was struck by a car once again at the age of five near her home on Sydney's northern beaches while out with her nanny. The crash reportedly launched her 18 meters out of her wheelchair and left her with a broken jaw, broken collarbone, nine broken ribs, punctured lungs, two fractured vertebrae, and a brain injury. She also suffered a heart attack during the ordeal, and doctors at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick twice asked her family if they would like to turn off her life support.
However, Delezio bounced back with yet another remarkable recovery and left the hospital about a month later to resume school. Australians were inspired by her photos during this time as she constantly smiled despite undergoing more than 100 surgeries. Now, despite being known as "Sophie the girl with no legs," she chooses to view herself as just another person. "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," Delezio previously told Now To Love.