Maria Andrejczyk said her medal in javelin is a sign of faith, struggle, and the pursuit of dreams, despite the many odds along the way.
However, only days after the athlete won a silver medal at the Tokyo Summer Games, the 25-year-old announced on her Facebook that her goal is to raise $190,000 to donate for the Polish child Miloszek Malysa, an 8-month-old who needs to go to the US for life-saving heart surgery by auctioning her medal.
The Story of the Sweet Malysa
Malysa has a major heart defect and needs to undergo expensive surgery, explained the athlete. He already has a head start from Kubus, a boy who didn’t make it but his amazing parents decided to pass over the funds they’ve managed to collect.
Andrejczyk also wanted to help the child get the chance for the surgery and therefore auctioned her silver medal. The boy’s donation page’s goal was raising over $380,000 or half of which Andrejczyk, a bone cancer survivor herself, wanted to donate.
The javelin thrower recently revealed that Zabka, a Polish convenience store chain, won the auction and donated more than her goal. The Olympian shared that they have the winner of the auction.
She added that all wonderful people who participated have helped her collect the needed funds and the boy will get the needed amount ASAP so he can be taken to the US.
The Silver Medal Is the Symbol of Life We Fought for Together
The award-winning athlete expressed her eternal gratitude to the company and was honored to give them the medal, the symbol of struggle, the pursuit of dreams, and faith. She hopes that for them it will be a symbol of the life they all fought for together.
After her announcement, Zabka tweeted that their wish is for Andrejczyk to keep her medal. They wrote how her noble and beautiful gesture moved them deeply and decided to support the fundraiser for the sweet boy.
They admire her and are happy to have contributed to the fight for saving a precious life. The child’s donation page has raised almost $346,000 needed for the heart surgery.
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