Polish Olympian Auctions Medal for Baby’s Heart Surgery
Not even two weeks after winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Polish javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk put it up for auction to help save an infant's life.
A few days back, 25 year old Javelin thrower from Poland, Maria Andrejczyk won the silver medal in Olympics for javelin throw. On 11th August she announced on Facebook that she will auction the medal to help save an infant’s life. She wrote that she chose to raise funds for Mi?oszek Ma?ysa, an 8-month-old boy who needs to travel from Poland to Stanford University in California to have life-saving heart surgery. She didn't know Ma?ysa, but she had read online pleas from the parents of the baby for help. After reading the request for help, she felt that she must help. Maria wrote that Ma?ysa needed 1.5 million Polish zlotys - roughly $385,000 to cover the costs of his transportation and medical care.
She wrote that half had already been raised by the family's online fundraiser and that her goal was to raise the other half through the medal auction. On 16th August, Maria announced that the auction was closed. A Polish convenience store chain called Zabka made the winning bid. However, Zabka gracefully declined to accept the silver medal. They said, "We also decided that the silver medal from Tokyo will stay with Ms. Maria." Maria, herself is a cancer survivor. In 2018 she was diagnosed with cancer and required surgery. She was able to restart training for the Tokyo Games in 2019.
