The Serious Medical Condition Sylvester Stallone's Daughter Sophia Lives With

Sophia Rose Stallone was born with a congenital heart defect — specifically, a hole in her heart — causing her to undergo surgery when she was just two months old and again when she was 16. While the initial operation was successful, the eldest daughter of Sylvester Stallone had to undergo another procedure in 2012 due to a congenital malformation of a heart valve, according to People. At the time, she told Paris Match magazine, per Hello! Magazine, “Every day I think of my heart. I eat really healthy, and as I get more tired than normal, I have to be very careful when doing sports. Now I have to have surgery again because the tissue they put in 16 years ago has widened and I have problems with the valves,” she explained.

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Opening up about her condition on “The Family Stallone,” Sophia said that doctors initially couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her back when she was a baby. Eventually, her mother, Jennifer Flavin, found one who was able to diagnose her, and Sophia underwent her first surgery at just 2 months old. She went to live a pretty normal life for years after that, until one day in 2012, she collapsed while playing volleyball. Per Access, Sophia feared for her life prior to her second heart surgery: “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.”