For those of you who are not aware of the circumstances that started this event.

The date was December 15, 2003, and in the Sydney suburb of Fairlight surrounded by her classmates two year old Sophie Delezio was having an afternoon nap at the Roundhouse Childcare Centre. Santa was due to visit them that afternoon, but, instead of waking to a sleigh being drawn by reindeer they were roused by a car crashing into their room, headlights on and with its wheels still spinning it landed in the middle of the sleeping children and burst into flames. One can only imagine what it was like in that room filled with fire and smoke as the children were being rescued, that is, all of them except Sophie. Eventually found by Manly Fire-fighter Wade Laverack, who said of Sophie’s discovery, "Upon lying down beside the vehicle I could see the feet of a child, all I could see was a very charred body and I thought she was deceased. The civilians lifted the car; I got underneath, grabbed Sophie's leg and pulled her out." When she began screaming, Laverack said he thought: "Well, she might get out of this”  

Prophetic words indeed, because, as we all know now, Sophie did survive, but it was survival at a terrible cost to a child. Suffering third-degree burns to 85 per cent of her body and the loss of both feet, some fingers and her right ear, at two years of age, her immediate destiny had just become one of constant pain going through a series of massive skin grafts and operations, and then, to compound all that, Sophie suffered multiple fractures and a punctured lung when she was run down by a car whilst being pushed in her stroller a couple of years later. Now I don’t know about any of you out there who have experienced a slide down the road, but, I, for one, reckon that Sophie’s injuries certainly puts the serious dose of gravel rash and broken bones that I got when I dropped the bike a lot of years ago, into the, “I hardly got a scratch” category.

Prompted by the care that Sophie received from the various Children’s Hospitals her parents Ron and Caroline started the Day of Difference Foundation. As a part of the fund raising campaigns a bloke by the name of Carl Glover got the Ride4Difference event up and running, and that’s the reason why about 250 bikes and riders turned up at the muster point in Sydney’s Olympic Park for the ride over to the Harbord Diggers Club located between Curl Curl Beach and Freshwater Beach. The children in attendance had a heap of things set up at the Club to keep them entertained, with the face painting, clowns and a jumping castle proving to be a big hit, Charli of TV’s Hi-5 fame was in attendance and spent most of her time with a horde of kids following her around, and best of all, making one of her few public appearances, Sophie was there greeting the riders as they wheeled past her and into the parking area set up at the back of the club.

Naturally enough, the day belonged to Sophie, but it was good to see, that, after all the media interviews and photo shots had been done, she was able to become just another kid in the group dragging their parents and Charli around to look at everything, Sophie’s resilience in the face of all she has gone through was plainly there for all to see, and I don’t think that a single person there on the day could have found her wanting. Also, probably not so well remembered, there was another child called Molly Wood who was also badly injured at the Childcare Centre, Molly was released from hospital after enduring 18 rounds of surgery for burns to about 40 per cent of her body and nearly two months in intensive care. I think it’s safe to say, that, we all wish both her and Sophie the very best for their futures.

It should be well noted that all monies raised by this charity go directly to the Hospitals and for various skin graft researches, Sophie and her parents do not receive, “nor” do they expect any of the funds raised to be used for them. There are a couple of biker clubs that are already involved in this charity but I reckon this one could be a bloody good starting point for any of those clubs out there that may be looking to do their own bit of charity fund-raising. So, next year if you are wondering what riding to do in the winter off season, keep this event in mind, because, bikers can and do make a difference.

In closing I would like to thank the bloke on the red chopper and his mate for showing me where the muster point was, and also to apologise for the bit of confusion when we got there as I missed seeing the bikes mustered behind the bushes and didn’t realise we had actually arrived. Also thanks to the trio from Newcastle, who, when we left the Harbord Diggers Club, let me tag onto the back until I got onto a road that I was familiar with. And of course, the biggest thankyou of all goes to Sophie, just for being who you are.

Sophie’s web page is at http://www.dayofdifference.org.au and is well worth a visit.

Crusty