Sometimes, the cards we’re dealt with in life seem to be the least favorable. However, with resilience, determination, and a little bit of luck, things can turn completely around. This is the story of Christina Rickardsson. Even at a very young age, she had to fight without any money, in order to beat what appeared to be insurmountable obstacles to be able to make something of herself. It’s a story of survival and love. Her tale shows just how the hand of fate can help someone recover hope when it looks as if everything is lost.

Christina’s origins

Christina was born in Brazil, to her mother Petronilia and an unknown father. Petronilia was in the region of Minas Gerais at the moment Christina aka Christiana Maria Coelho, was born and Petronilia had nowhere to live. Since her situation was so precarious, Petronilia took drastic measures in order to provide a home for her daughter. When Christina was only a 15-days-old baby, she took her to live in one of the most dangerous places for a newborn, but somewhere she hoped they could at least have a roof over their heads and be left alone.

Home sweet…cave?

There were plenty of caves in the wilderness of the Brazilian landscape in the area where they lived and Petronilia decided this was where she and her daughter would reside. They wouldn’t have to pay any rent which was a good thing, given that Petronilia had nothing in the bank. However, there were other things that made the place dangerous, especially for a child. One of the first things was the surface of the cave, which could gravely injure Christina if she were to be dropped or fall.  As she grew up, there were other external issues that could represent a great risk for both of them.

The wilderness comes with wild animals

Fans of animal care might be all for protecting these species, but Christina and Petronilia were living in close proximity to deadly threats like snakes, scorpions, and even venomous spiders. Christina has said that she remembered the nights to be especially dangerous as it was the time when many of these creatures would crawl out of their homes. However, Christina managed to survive despite these small but deadly animals and insects and she spent the first years of her childhood living in the cave. However, there was one special incident that almost ended her life.

The big animals were hungry

Insects and snakes were dangerous, to say the least, but when one time, a jaguar entered the cave searching for something to eat, Christina thought that would be the end. Fortunately, she was unharmed, but the experience was something that she would remember for the rest of her life. Despite how precarious their lives were, Christina fondly remembered this stage of her life with her loving mother. Petronilia would sing to her and tell her stories about angels and God, and although their lifestyle was not exactly opulent, Christina knew she was loved, which would give her character a lot of strength. Petronilia also taught her very practical survival skills.

A kid hunting in the wild

Christina was only a child, less than five years old, but often, she had to help her mom in looking for food. They would find fruits and nuts, but eventually, Petronilia taught her daughter how to use the slingshot. In order to improve their nutrition, they would target small birds, which would be the source of protein in their meals. Christina was very proud when she learned and was able to bring something to the table. But sometimes, this wasn’t enough, and they needed to take extreme measures in order to cover their basic needs.

Begging to survive

Diamantina was the city closest to where their cave was. On occasions, they would go there to sell flowers but also, to beg on the streets to make enough cash to buy things like rice. Some people would see them as a charity case and give them something while others treated them badly and even insulted them. Christina would remember her mother’s words to always keep walking in order to make it through these tough days. One day, when they got back to their cave, they found a devastating surprise.

Evicted from the only home she had ever known

Somehow, someone had found out that they were living there and men went with dogs to get them to leave. With no other option, together, Petronilia and Christina walked all the way to Sao Paulo, one of the biggest cities of Brazil. There, they settled in a slum area or so-called favela, which was where the poorest people live. Petronilia hoped that they could have a better life as well as a better diet there and so did her daughter. What Christina didn’t see coming was how much safer she had actually been in the cave. Things in Sao Paulo would soon become very dangerous for her.

From the cave to the streets

Unfortunately, Petronilia had a very hard time finding a job and she would disappear for long periods, leaving Christina on the streets. She was one of the many beggar children who lived on the streets of Sao Paulo. Christina suffered greatly during this time and her health was deeply affected but she managed to make one friend, Camile, and they would try to protect each other from the other kids and also from adults. However, some extreme measures were being taken in order to reduce the number of street children and Christina and Camile would soon find themselves in trouble.

The brutal clean-up of Sao Paulo’s streets

Sao Paulo is one of the biggest and most touristic cities in Brazil. During the time Christina was there, Brazil was facing a hunger epidemic and drastic measures were being taken by police officers. In order to keep the streets “clean” of street children, they would kill them as if they were a plague, with the purpose of keeping Sao Paulo presentable for tourists. They wanted the kids to stay away from any hotel resort. Christina and Camile had become very good at avoiding these officers but one day, they weren’t so lucky. Christina managed to escape but Camile, Christina’s only friend, died that day.

The trash cans were her food source

In order to survive, Christina would have to look for food remains in trash cans and sometimes steal from food markets. She had been forced to fend for herself and this was what she had found herself doing. She was far from having optimum nutrition and she would often have to run away to avoid getting caught, which further depleted her energy every day. She felt herself giving up hope for a better life and the injustice of the whole thing further dampened her spirits. Most people in her predicament would’ve given up, however, she kept going.

A battle for life

After days of not having eaten anything at all, Christina found a toast in the trash. For her, it was a precious find but suddenly, a bigger boy tried to take it from her. After a fight in which he punched her on the face and was successful in taking the food, Christina found a broken glass bottle and struck the boy with it. She managed to take the food and run, thanks to all the unwilling exercise she had done running on the streets. However, she soon realized what had happened. Even though she didn't intend for the boy to get killed, he died, and it left a huge impact on Christina.

A break in the madness

Petronilia found her daughter Christina one day and she told her everything that had happened. Petronilia, who now had a new son named Patrique, gave her advice that she would always remember: to never stop walking. Christina helped her mom take care of Patrique using a shoebox to carry him around. They would sleep on newspapers and use rags as clothes for them and Patrique’s diapers. Things were as critical as they had ever been, but one day, Petronilia made a decision that would forever change all of their lives.

Listening to a higher command

Petronilia told Christina that God had told her to put them both in an orphanage in a temporary way. She wanted to look for a job that would allow her to provide for them so she put them in the orphanage and visited them every Sunday. However, one day, the orphanage started to refuse her visits. Christina didn’t know why, but this caused a lot of pain for both Petronilia and her daughter. The orphanage was strict but Christina was better protected from child abuse and had a place to sleep as well as food to eat. She was living with other 200 children when something unthinkable happened.

Christina meets her new parents

A Swedish family entered the orphanage one day. They had decided on adoption to have their kids and they chose Christina, who by then was eight years old, and her brother Patrique, who was two. This meant that Christina would have to move to Sweden and didn’t really have a say on the whole thing. She never had a chance to say goodbye to her mother but she couldn’t imagine the new adventures that were waiting for her. She was now the daughter of Lilian-Ann and Sture Rickardsson and her new name would be Christina Rickardsson.

What is that metal bird?

Despite how crazy and sudden everything had been, a part of Christina was excited. She had never been on a plane so this was a whole new experience. When she realized she was in the other part of the world, she had a huge shock. They had traveled for hours and it wasn’t until her new mom showed her the distance with the help of a globe that she truly realized how far away she was from home. However, there was a lot she had to learn and her education started shortly after. She immediately took to the Swedish language and started to forget her native Portuguese.

Vindeln, where snow falls 

Christina and Patrik – as he had been renamed - were now living in Vindeln, in the northern part of Sweden. The culture shock was immense initially. There were no street children, no huge mountains of garbage and then, winter started. Christina at first thought that a white cloud had fallen on the house and went out to touch it. It was quite a scare when she realized it was cold! Before this, she had no idea what snow was but there was a lot of it in Sweden. Christina adjusted and embraced her new and healthy life, and the many different experiences only made it easier for her to let go of her past.

Growing up Swedish

Christina and Patrik grew up like any other Swedish kids. Once she had learned enough of the language, Christina started going to school, which was very important for the family, especially considering that Lili-Ann, her mom, was a teacher. She now had two loving parents who took care of her needs and she was finally able to be a child. However, she would have to face yet another trial at a very young age, when she had to say goodbye to one of her pillars, way before anyone was ready to do so.

Losing her mom, again

Christina had already lost Petronilia, but now, Lilian-Ann was sick and she died after battling cancer. Christina, now 15, felt her loss very deeply and had to find the strength to continue, and as Petronilia had told her, to keep walking. Her dad continued to be there for them but losing her mother had affected her greatly. This would be one of the things that later on would motivate her to dig into her past, looking for the only maternal figure she had left. Meanwhile, she continued to live her life in Sweden.

Thriving in the Nordic country

With the support of her dad, Christina finished high school and continued to thrive in Sweden. However, she always felt like something was not quite right and her past would not let her rest. At times, she felt as if she couldn’t reconcile her identity between the Brazilian girl she had been and the Swedish woman she had become. And that was why when she was 31 years old, she made a decision that would take her back to where everything had started. For Christina, it was time to go back to Brazil.

 Going back home 24 years later

Christina arrived in Brazil in 2015. She lost Lili-Ann to a deadly disease but she could still find her birth mother, Petronilia. However, this wasn’t going to be an easy task given the huge size of Brazil as well as her limited Portuguese. She made her way back to the orphanage where she had lived with her brother and they shared some information. She also hired an investigator and eventually, she knew where she had to go. Her mom was living in Belo Horizonte, 350 miles from Sao Paulo. Christina would soon find out some issues about her mother's mental health that would shed some light into her troubled past.

A heart-warming reunion

As it turned out, her mother had suffered from schizophrenia her entire life and now, she was taking medication and being taken care of by her sisters. When Christina arrived, there were three women waiting for her at the door of the house, but just after hearing Petronilia's voice, Christina immediately knew which one was her mom. After Christina and Patrik had been adopted, she had spent 15 years looking for them on the streets. No one had given her any information regarding the fate of her children. The reunion was heart-warming for everyone present.

Going back to her first home

Christina wanted to revisit the places that had marked her childhood. She went back to the cave where she had lived her first five years with Petronilia and she rediscovered the place that was still somewhere in her memory. Just by stepping in, she knew where it was safe to walk and where it wasn’t. Of course, now that she was taller, the place seemed much smaller. Despite the dangers they faced and not having a healthy diet, Christina had fond memories of being loved by her mom and hearing her stories every day. Now, they were back together. But someone was missing.

Family reunion

Patrik was only a two-year-old boy when they left Brazil so it was unlikely that he remembered anything from those first rough years. However, he did feel curious about their birth mom and immediately got on a plane after Christina let him know that she had found her. Patrik even went with Christina and Petronilia to visit the cave. Despite never living there himself, it was part of his family's past. He also got to meet his aunts and other family members, which of course was an adjustment for both him and Christina. After all, despite sharing DNA, the siblings didn’t know them and there was a cultural and language barrier.

Delving back into her past

Despite the bad times, Christina had never felt unloved and that was why she wasn’t afraid of revisiting the places that had marked her story of survival. However, she felt that she had a story to tell as well as people to help. She had been fortunate enough to be adopted by a loving family and lead a healthy lifestyle, but how many kids could say the same? Despite a small improvement since she had left, the number of kids on the streets of Brazil was still too high and so Christina decided to do something about it.

Creating her own foundation

Christina created the Coehlo Growth Foundation with the purpose of helping out other street children. The idea was to help to give them a chance at life and provide them the tools necessary to become part of society and be able to have better opportunities and a better future. She included the orphanage where she had lived in as one of the institutions that would help her with her goal. She had been attacked and criticized over her initiative by people who didn't want her story to be told. However, she remained strong and carried on with her purpose.

Using her experiences to help others

Christina got in touch again with the orphanage but this time, with the purpose of enlisting its assistance in furthering the Coehlo Growth Foundation. In this way, the place where she had spent a rough period of her childhood could become a part of her initiative to help other people. She collaborated with NGOs and had been able to create a link between Swedish donations, like the one made by a real estate company, and Rio de Janeiro as well as Sao Paulo. Her hope is to provide more opportunities for these children, as she considers that when a child is given a chance, they can make the best of it.

Living by her mother’s words

Her autobiographical book is titled Never Stop Walking, echoing what her biological mom used to tell her. It's the same wisdom that has carried her through growing up. When she released it, it became a best-seller in Sweden and she sold thousands of copies. Her inspirational story is told in two perspectives, that of Christina herself, as an adult, and also from the perspective of her childhood self. The touching story has reached many people and it has been translated into other languages. This has allowed her to have a platform and other opportunities have come her way.

Giving a Ted Talk

Christina was contacted by TEDx organizers and she gave a TEDx Talk about her personal struggles and all the things she had to overcome. In addition, it was a story of resilience, personal growth, and evolution, showing what having opportunities meant for her and how her life had evolved. On the lecture, which took place in May 2016, she approached the various subjects tackled in her publication. However, her main goal is to shed light and create awareness regarding the multiple links and bridges that can be built between very different cultures, in order to create something worthwhile and positive and improve people’s well-being.

Her upcoming projects

Christina has several projects right now. One of them is increasing the impact her organization can have by creating libraries where kids can have further education on different subjects. She would also like it to reach other cities in Brazil where an intervention regarding street children is necessary. She has likewise announced that she will pen another book, not autobiographical but still somewhat related to Never Stop Walking. She has stayed in touch with her family in Brazil, makes the not-so-cheap flight from Sweden to Brazil in order to visit, and spends quality time with them during the year.

An inspiration for many

Christina’s tale is about inspiration and motivation. It's also about building one's character by trying one's best to overcome adversity. She hopes that with her story, she can touch people’s hearts and minds in order to give them the drive that they might need to keep going. Her personal life experiences show that no matter how hard things get or how much anxiety and uncertainty the future seems to hold, stopping should not be an option. In addition, turning everything around and finding a way to help others in the same plight is certainly something to applaud and emulate.