IN an effort to raise funds for an eight-month-old boy’s heart surgery, Polish javelin thrower, Maria Andrejczyk, has auctioned off her Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medal.
After recovering from bone cancer following a diagnosis in 2018, Andrejczyk, who came in fourth at the Rio 2016 Games, went on to clinch the medal at the recent Olympic Games in Japan.
Miloszek, the young Polish boy, who requires heart surgery at Stanford Hospital, USA, was the first fundraiser Andrejczyk encountered and she wanted to help a stranger following her Olympic medal win, said the 25-year-old athlete on her Facebook page.
The Olympian was hoping that her medal would fund half of the 1.5 million Polish zloty (RM1.63 million) sought by Miloszek for the surgery.
On Monday, Andrejczyk confirmed that the Polish convenience store, Zabka, who had won the auction with their donation and contributions surpassing the £140,000 (RM814,947)-mark she had hoped for, praised her "beautiful and extremely noble gesture" and insisted she keep her medal.
As of yesterday morning, the donations were close to the 90 per cent mark. – Agencies, August 18, 2021
