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Harry O'Brien was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to a Brazilian mother and a Congolese father.
Born in Rio to a Brazilian mother and a Congolese father and moving to a very white Australia at the age of three, he knows personally what its like to be.

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Heritier "Harry" O'Brien plays Australian Rules Football professionally as a defender for the Collingwood Football Club.

He was born in Rio de Janeiro to a Brazilian mother and a Congolese father. He moved to Perth when he was three and was raised by his Australian stepfather. He only found out about his biological father at age 19 and met him about three years ago.

He has no formal link to the UN, but has a commitment to global health, hence his interest in the recent UN-NGO conference on global health in Melbourne.

Since 2008, he has been a Youth Ambassador for Melbourne's Burnet Institute which integrates world-class laboratory and field-based medical research with multidisciplinary programs to prevent, detect and treat diseases of global significance. That position took him on a trip to Mozambique and the DRC in 2008. He has also spent some time in South Africa (particularly Soweto).

At a recent UN-sponsored conference of non-governmental organisations (as well as talking to the media) he spoke to a couple of hundred secondary school children at the you

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Harry O'Brien: The boy from Brazil

FACT FILE: Heritier 'Harry' O'Brien

Born: 15/1/1986

Recruited: Claremont (WAFL), 2005 rookie draft selection

All Australian 2010. Premiership player 2010

HARRY O'Brien was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to a Brazilian mother and a Congolese father.

He moved to Western Australia when he was three years old and was raised by his stepfather, Ralph.

O'Brien did not meet his biological father until he was 19.

He was recruited from WAFL club Claremont by Collingwood with pick No. 20 in the 2005 NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

O'Brien's world was turned upside down when his stepfather Ralph committed suicide in 2009, and he contemplated taking six months off football during that 2009 season as he sought to be closer to his mother and family in Perth.

However Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse talked him out of that decision and the following year he became a first-time All Australian and has since gone on to become one of Collingwood's most important players.

Earlier this year O'Brien revealed he was witne

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