02-05-2025
Sophie Delezio breaks down in tears on social media as accident survivor pleads for help with eight-month-old son
Sophie Delezio has broken down in tears on social media as she pleaded for parenting advice to combat her eight-month-old son's constant crying.
The Australian double-car crash victim, 24, and her husband Joseph Salerno welcomed their first child Frankie through an unplanned caesarean section last September.
On Thursday, Delezio became candid about life as a new mother, confessing to struggling with life with a newborn.
She took to Instagram stories to ask her 300,000 followers who were parents how to cope with feeling "run down" and "exhausted."
"To all the mums out there, how do you cope when you're feeling run down and just a bit exhausted?" she said.
"How do you keep your child entertained?
"I have to provide top-tier entertainment otherwise, there is going to be many tears. And to be honest, probably from both of us. How?"
The new mother teared up as she described this difficult season of her life as "peak motherhood," during which she battled to forgo old habits.
"I just want to crawl up into my bed and watch Netflix all day," she said.
"But no, the sun is shining, and we've got to get on with the day."
Delezio has shared her peaks and troughs of motherhood and previously mentioned her son's constant crying was "heartbreaking."
She said the worst part of being a new mum was guessing what her baby's cries meant.
"It's so hard at first to figure out what each cry means, and sometimes they just cry for no reason, and it breaks my heart," she said.
In February, she said in a video of the young family at the airport that travelling with a newborn was not for the "faint-hearted."
"I seriously feel like we had to pack for a month when we were only gone two days!" the 24-year-old wrote in the caption.
However, Delezio has largely maintained a positive outlook and recently said she found "joy in the little things."
"Seeing him discover the world for the first time. His obsession with trees. His love for walks. His smile," she said.
"...These are moments I'll never get back, and I want to cherish every single one."
The Sydney-born car crash survivor can often be seen taking Frankie for walks in his pram during sunset in the northern Sydney suburb of Manly.
In December 2003, Delezio was just two years old when she and another toddler were severely injured after they became trapped under a burning car that crashed through the window of the Roundhouse Childcare Centre in Fairlight, Sydney.
She suffered burns to 85 per cent of her body and lost both legs below the knee, her right hand, and her right ear.
Donald John McNeall, 68, was cleared of negligent driving as it could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that he did not have a seizure.
After being released from hospitalisation after several months, Delezio made national headlines when another car struck her in May 2006.
Delezio was thrown 18 metres while being pushed by her nanny across a crossing in a wheelchair near her home on Sydney's northern beaches.
She suffered a heart attack, a broken jaw, a broken shoulder, bruising to her head, numerous rib fractures and a tear to her left lung.
John George Sharman, 80, was charged with "dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, and not giving way to a pedestrian on a crossing."
He received an 18-month good behaviour bond and was suspended from driving for a year.
