An Olympic silver-medalist chose to give up her medal to save a little life.
Polish Olympian Maria Andrejczyk won a silver medal for the javelin throw at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games. Instead of hanging the medal on a wall, she decided to put it to better use.
Andrejczyk set up an online auction for her medal, in hopes of raising money for an 8-month old boy to get a life-changing surgery. Miłoszek Małysa needs life-saving heart surgery in the United States.
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"We have the winner of the auction!" says Andrejczyk on her Facebook page.
The winning bid was $125,000 from the Polish supermarket chain Żabka.
"I hope that for you it will be a symbol of the life we fought for together," says Andrejczyk to the store's owner.
The Olympian says the medal represents "a symbol of struggle, faith and pursuit of dreams despite many odds." In the Rio Summer Games, Andrejczyk's javelin was 2 cm away from her receiving a medal, making the gesture that much more heartfelt.
The baby boy will be flying to Stanford University in the U.S.A for his heart surgery shortly.
In a heartwarming turn of events, the grocery store ended up returning the silver medal to Andrejczyk as a symbol of her achievement and generosity.
Tue, Apr 23, 1:20 PM
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