Sylvester Stallone’s Daughter Sophia Has a Hole in Her Heart

Sylvester Stallone’s daughter Sophia Stallone is opening up about her life-long medical condition. During the June 14 episode of her family’s Paramount+ series The Family Stallone, Sophia revealed that she was born with a hole in her heart, a condition that has resulted in numerous complications and two surgeries.

Discussing her health with her sister, Sistine Stallone, Sophia shared that the hole in her heart was discovered after she got really sick when she was just 2 months old. Getting to the bottom of the problem wasn’t easy, though, and out of 12 doctors, “no one could figure it out.” It was only due to her mother Jennifer Flavin‘s “sheer determination” that they “found a doctor that found the hole.” After the hole in her heart was discovered, Sophia underwent surgery and things were “totally fine” until “one day” when she was 16 she fainted while playing volleyball.

“It was really having to go from living this normal life when I was 16 to having to have my chest sawed open,” she revealed. “The moment I found out I needed an operation was one of the most pivotal experiences of my entire life because I never had to consider death before.”

Reflecting on that moment in time, Sophia said it was “really traumatizing” and a “really hard” time for all of her family, including her mother, who had “rashes all over her body,” and her father, who couldn’t even talk” to her “without crying” about it. Sophia confessed that she still had PTSD from her surgery, and when speaking about the incident with her father after she joined him in Oklahoma City this week, where he’s been filming Tulsa King, Stallone praised for being brave at the time while he was “scared to death.” Stallone also confessed that every year when Sophia goes to see her doctor, their entire family feels a “weight on their hearts,” concerned that she may have to undergo another surgery.

At the end of the episode, Sophia went for her annual check-up and thankfully received some good news. The doctor told her that the patch over the hole on her heart is still in place, saying, “You’re great – your heart’s great.” Reacting to the news, Sophia’s mother said, “There’s no greater feeling.”