Miracle survivor responds under induced coma

A5-year-old Sydney girl seriously injured in a car smash was in Auckland at her grandfather's university graduation ceremony just days before.

Sophie Delezio, who lost both feet, some fingers and her right ear and was badly burned three years ago when a car smashed into her Sydney day-care centre, looked on proudly as 80-year-old Allan Martin of Warkworth was capped with a doctorate in education from the University of Auckland.

The Delezio family were back in Sydney five days later when Sophie's pushchair was struck on a pedestrian crossing at Seaforth, throwing her 10m down the road.

Visiting Warkworth resident Rebecca Myhre, 21, was pushing Sophie. Ms Myhre, a god-daughter of Dr Martin's daughter Carolyn, was treated for shock.

The 81-year-old driver of the car has been charged with a series of offences.

Dr Martin, who was capped on May 1, is a former director-general of South Pacific Television and TVNZ.

He and his wife Joy flew to keep a vigil at Sophie's bedside with their daughter and her husband Ron. Ms Myhre has not yet returned home.

Dr Martin told the Weekend Herald Sophie was in an induced coma and early signs were positive.

"She is responding to familiar voices and has squeezed her mum's hand. So far the news is good. We just have to remain patient and positive."

Sophie is being treated at Sydney Children's Hospital for head injuries, a broken jaw, rib fractures and bleeding in her left lung.

Family and school friends are allowed in to see her, one at a time to minimise the risk of infection.

Contacted at her home in Warkworth, Ms Myhre's mother, Denise, said family and friends had been instructed not to comment on the accident or the 5-year-old's condition.

Queries were to be directed to Sophie's father through the website of the Day of Difference Foundation, the health charity he and his wife established after Sophie's first accident.

Mr Delezio did not return calls, but the website said that Sophie would remain in a coma for "probably the next two weeks".

"Sophie is responding well to the medications and little signs of improvement are apparent every day.

"Sophie will, however, need to stay in this induced coma so that her lungs and her broken bones have a chance to heal."

The website said the family were calling for donations to the burns prevention foundation so "urgently needed equipment can be purchased to help save other children in similar situations".

Well-wishers could also leave messages on www.wishesforsophie.com, which has already logged 12,874 entries.

Sophie became a symbol of survival three years ago after the car veered off the road, smashed into her day-care centre and burst into flames.

The driver had suffered a seizure at the wheel. Sophie suffered burns to 85 per cent of her body.

On two occasions the family could have turned off her life-support system, but they held back. Miraculously, Sophie pulled through.

Sophie's grandfather was the oldest person to graduate at the university ceremony she attended. Dr Martin's thesis argued that older adults can contribute significantly to social and political change and that education is critical in this process.

Most adults, he said, remained fit and healthy well into later life and did not conform to the medical model of retirement on which Government policies and public attitudes were often formed.

Once his granddaughter is on the road to recovery, the former head of current affairs for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation intends to renew a career in journalism.

Originally a radio announcer here and overseas, he was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1987 for services to broadcasting.

- Additional reporting by Julie Middleton