In Tokyo, Polish javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk earned her first Olympic medal. However, she’s not holding on to it. Instead, Andrejczyk has decided to sell her medal for a good deed: raising money for a little boy’s heart surgery!
Maria Andrejczyk: Amazing In Many Ways
25-year-old javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk, from Suwałki, Poland, made her country very proud at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, bringing home a silver medal. However, despite winning her first Olympic medal ever, she’s not keeping hold of it. Instead, the honored athlete auctioned it off to help a little boy live. That’s right!
Just a few days after she earned the prize, Andrejczyk took to Facebook to announce the auction. In the post, the athlete stated she wanted to raise $190,000 for Polish child Miloszek Małysa, who is 8-months-old. “Miloszek has a serious heart defect, he needs an operation,” Andrejczyk wrote in the August 11 post. “He already has a head start from Kubus — a boy who didn’t make it in time but whose amazing parents decided to pass on the funds they collected. And in this way, I also want to help. It’s for him that I am auctioning my Olympic silver medal.”
You see, Andrejczyk, a bone cancer survivor, knows precisely how hard it is to overcome such a severe health condition. The surgery will cost an incredible $380,000, of which the athlete hopes she can help raise at least half…
Giving Up Her Olympic Medal
Just a few days after Andrejczyk announced that the auction had ended as quickly as it began. Polish convenience store chain Zabka nabbed the silver medal for even more than the athlete had asked for!
“On Friday I received this wonderful information, and due to the fact that you dears have already done wonders and joint forces have paid more than the equivalent of the initial medal to the Mi łooszka account – I decided to end the auction so that our Mi łoosz will receive the whole amount as soon as possible and can fly to the USA,” Andrejczyk wrote in her announcement. “I hope that for you it will be a symbol of the life we fought for together.”
However, believe it or not, that’s just the beginning of this fantastic story. In the end, Zabka declined the metal! The company decided she should keep it, thanks to her incredible actions. . “We were moved by the beautiful and extremely noble gesture of our Olympian, so we decided to support the fundraiser for Miłoszek,” the company tweeted. “We decided that from Tokyo will stay with Maria! We admire [Andrejczyk] and we are glad that we were able to contribute.”
Now, thanks to Andrejczyk, Zabka, and many others, Miloszek Małysa will undergo the surgery they desperately need!