"When I was eight, I moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil (from Cuiaba, Brazil), where I began to play soccer (football). I have always loved to play soccer. I played on the junior team for Sao Paulo in 2000. We were in the middle of the Paulista Junior Championships when I received a yellow card. I was suspended for the following game, so I took advantage of the free weekend to visit my grandparents, who lived in Caldas Novas at the time. My brother, my parents, my grandparents and I went to a water park.
As I was coming down one of the slides into the pool, I hit my head on the bottom of the pool, and my neck snapped. I fractured the sixth vertebra in my neck. At the time, I had no idea what happened. I came out of the pool with a strong headache, and my brother who had come down the slide right after me, asked me what happened. I told him I hit my head on the bottom of the pool. He saw that I was bleeding and convinced me to go to the first-aid center. From there, we went to the hospital where they took an x-ray of my neck. According to the x-ray, everything looked fine. I got a few stitches in my head and that was that.
I returned to Sao Paulo to train on Monday, as well as on Tuesday, all the while with a broken neck. On Tuesday, I called the coach and the physical trainer and told them that I couldn't bear the pain any longer. They sent me to see a doctor at the hospital where they took another x-ray. It was in this x-ray that the fracture in the sixth vertebra was shown. Everyone, including the doctors, told me I was very lucky that nothing more serious happened. They told me that I could have become paralyzed and lost my ability to walk and to play football. I believe it was not luck. I believe God was protecting me during that time from anything more serious.
Many people think that I became a Christian after the accident, but that is not true. My parents are Christians and they raised me with biblical values. The accident happened in October of 2000 while I was playing in the "base" position on the Sao Paulo junior team. Throughout November and December, I had to wear a cervical collar and could not play. I began to play again in January of 2001, and after about 10 or 15 days, I was called to play for the Sao Paulo professional team. Because of this, I believe God had a purpose in that accident. It is something that happened just before I had the great blessing of starring as a professional in Sao Paulo and initiating my career as a professional football player.
As I said before, my parents always taught me the Bible and its values, and also about Jesus Christ and faith. I did not have a specific conversion experience, but little by little, I stopped simply hearing people talk about the Jesus my parents taught me [about], and there came a time when I wanted to live my own experiences with God. One of these experiences with God was when I was baptized at the age of 12. This was a very important step in my walk with Jesus and soon after, many things began to happen in my life where I could experience God in a real way.
I need Jesus every day of my life. Jesus tells me in the Bible that without him I can't do anything. I have the gift and capacity today to play soccer because God gave it to me."
5. A photo shoot that paid off 19 years later
