Polish thrower auctions Tokyo medal to raise funds for child’s surgery

New Delhi, August 18

Polish javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk, winner of a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, auctioned the medal to raise funds for an infant’s life-saving surgery.

The 25-year-old Maria decided to sell her medal to arrange for emergency funds needed for eight-month-old Miloszek Malysa, who has a serious heart defect.

Maria wrote on her Facebook page that she came across the fundraiser for the child, who needed surgery. “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,” she wrote in Polish on her page, adding: “And in this way, I also want to help. It’s for him that I am auctioning my Olympic silver medal.”

On Monday, Maria confirmed on Instagram that Zabka, a Polish supermarket chain, won the auction with a bid of $125,000. The money raised will allow the little boy to undergo surgery at Stanford University Medical Center.

In a surprising twist, however, Zabka decided to give the medal back to Maria.

Maria had missed a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics by 2cm. She suffered a shoulder injury in 2017 and was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2018. She went through recovery to make a comeback and won her first Olympics medal in Tokyo earlier this month. — TNS