When the worst happens – and hope is sparked

It all began with a journey. A journey that changed everything.
In 2010, Nina Brännkärr-Friberg was on her way home from a family trip to Norway when she noticed something wasn’t right. Her son Todde was unusually tired, sluggish, and uninterested in his favorite food. Maybe it was just an infection, she thought. But when the blood tests came back, the news was brutal – leukemia.

From one day to the next, the family’s life was turned upside down. Gone were the routines of school pickups and football practice – replaced by hospital rooms, chemotherapy treatments, and countless sleepless nights filled with fear. They spent weeks and months in the hospital, isolated from the outside world, trying to find moments of light in an uncertain reality.

During those long hospital stays, Nina began to notice something. The sterile, impersonal rooms. How children and families were fighting not just the illness, but also loneliness and a deep sense of hopelessness. She saw how small gestures could make a big difference – a colorful blanket, a soft toy, a kind word. And that’s where the idea was born: What if she could do something? Something that offered hope, something that brought life into the hospitals.

From thought to action

As Todde began recovering after his stem cell transplant in 2011, Nina’s desire to support other families grew stronger. In 2014, she took the leap and founded Project Liv – an organization devoted to bringing light into the everyday lives of children with long-term illnesses and their families.

The first major initiative was to encourage people to join the stem cell registry. When the entire football team FF Jaro signed up and gave blood samples, the message spread quickly. More and more people joined, and the engagement grew.

But Project Liv was never just a campaign. It was a vision to transform the hospital environment – and to give affected children and their families something to look forward to. LIV dream days were born, along with colorful hospital kits and a movement of volunteers and healthcare staff working together to spread hope.

A legacy of smiles

Today, Project Liv is a well-established organization with partnerships all across Finland. From hospitals to schools, from small gift packages to life-changing experiences – everything is rooted in the mission to “bring back a lost smile.”

But it all began with one mother and her son. With an insight, a will to make a difference – and a belief that even when the worst happens, hope can still be sparked.