Polish Javelin Thrower Sell Off Her Olympic Medal to To Raise Money For Boy's Heart Surgery

Maria Andrejczyk, a Polish javelin thrower sold off her silver medal which she clinched at the Olympics for $125,000 to Żabka Polska, a Polish store chain, to get money for an eight-month-old Polish boy's heart surgery.

Andrejczyk wrote on her Facebook page, "It didn't take me long to decide, it was the first fundraiser I entered and I knew it was the right one. Miloszek has a serious heart defect and is in need of surgery."

As she announced the winner of the auction, Andrejczyk took to Twitter and wrote (roughly translated to English), "The winner of the auction and at the same time, the company to which I will be eternally grateful is Zabka Polska. I have no words to express how happy I am today. Huge Respect And Thanks." 

Meanwhile, Żabka Polska was not ready for Andrejczyk to make this sacrifice. The store requested her to keep her medal after the store won the auction. Żabka Polska tweeted (roughly translated to English), "We were very touched by the extremely beautiful and noble gesture of our Olympian, so we decided to support the fundraiser for Miłoszek. We decided that her medal from Tokyo will stay with Mrs. Maria! We admire and we are glad that we could add our own." 

Andrejczyk, a 25-year-old Olympian won silver in the women's javelin throw for her 64.61-meter. She said that a medal is only an object, but silver can save lives instead of putting dust on it in a closet. That is the reason I decided to auction it to help sick children. 

Meanwhile, the little kid named Miloszek will have to undergo surgery at Stanford University. The family of Miloszek began a fundraising page to collect money so that they will be able to pay for the surgery with a goal of 1.5 million Polish zloty ($384,512). Also, at present, they have managed to raise 90 per cent of the total amount.