Ron Delezio named Father of the Year 2006

Father of the Year
Ron Delezio credits his daughter Sophie's remarkable survival after two horrific accidents with making him a better dad.
Ron Delezio named Father of the Year
By Katherine Field
September 01, 2006 Article from: AAP

Australia's Father of the Year Ron Delezio credits his daughter Sophie's remarkable survival after two horrific accidents with making him a better dad.

The brave five-year-old suffered horrific burns and lost both her feet when a car crashed into her Fairlight daycare centre in December 2003.

Then, in May this year, she suffered more life-threatening injuries when she was hit by a car at a northern Sydney pedestrian crossing.

But Sophie was all smiles today, in a pink skirt with a matching ribbon in her hair, as her dad was named 2006 Father of the Year by the Australian Fathers' Day Council.

Accepting the award, a humble Mr Delezio agreed his family's brushes with tragedy had made him a better father.

“I appreciate my family a lot more than I did before ... I just cherish the time,” he said.

“Hopefully there's a lot of people out there to learn from the experiences that we've learnt, we've learnt the hard way.”

Mr Delezio, who has a grown son from a previous marriage as well as seven-year-old Mitchell, said he is looking forward to seeing Sophie's progression through life's milestones.

“There's no reason why someone like Sophie ... can't go to university, can't have families, and can't put in decent contributions to our society,” he said.

Since Sophie's first accident Mr Delezio has worked to provide support to burns survivors and their families, setting up the Day of Difference Foundation in 2004.

Alongside his wife Carolyn Martin, and all three of his children, the newly-crowned Father of the Year said he was completely surprised by the honour.

But his children were unanimous that he was no ordinary dad.

“He's more than fantastic,” Mitchell said.

Eldest son John, himself a father-of-three, described his dad as a great role-model.

Ms Martin agreed.

“Ron's been able to rise above the challenges we've had in life and make something good come of it,” she said.

Mr Delezio spent long vigils at Sophie's bedside, saying he was inspired by other families with sick children in hospital.

”We saw the love and dedication of these fathers and mothers to their children and how we believe that sort of love and devotion helped save their lives,” he said.

The Australian Father of the Year award, which marks the importance of fathers to the country and to the development and wellbeing of children, has been running since 1957.