Olympics silver medalist Maria Andrejczyk auctions medal for GHC 1.5m to help fund infant’s treatment

Olympics silver medalist Maria Andrejczyk auctions medal for GHC 1.5m to help fund infant’s treatment

SportsBrief.com, Lukman Mumuni
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:43 PM
  • Andrejczyk says the value of a medal lies in the heart, and it's better for her silver to 'save lives than gather dust in a closet'
  • She is a bone cancer survivor after making a remarkable recovery after initial diagnosis in 2018
  • At the Rio Olympics in 2016, the Polish javelin thrower emerged fourth and did not walk away with any medal

Silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics Maria Andrejczyk earned plaudits from fans on social media after she decided to put auction her medal to help fund a child’s surgery.

Maria
Maria Andrejczyk auctioned her Medal for K Sh 21M to Help Fund Infant’s Treatment. Photo by Matthias Hangst.
Source: UGC

The 25-year old took to her Facebook page to announce her decision to help a boy identified as Miloszek.

“Miloszek has a serious heart defect. He needs an operation,” she said in her post.
"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.
"And in this way, I also want to help. It’s for him that I am auctioning my Olympic silver medal.”

The infant in question suffers from a rare combination of heart and venous problems, a condition that restricts the pulmonary veins from functioning properly.

Andrejczyk is herself a cancer survivor, having initially been diagnosed in 2018.

It was a harrowing time for her as she was also battling a recurring shoulder injury which played a role in her fourth-placed finish in Rio 2016.

According to The Mirror, Miloszek's donation page is seeking to raise 1.5million Polish zloty, which translates to KSh 42.2 million.

Andrejczyk is hoping the auction of her medal would help half that amount.

On Monday, August 16, the javelin star announced Polish convenience store Zabka won the auction, and their donation of £140,000 (GHC 1.5m) and other contributions surpassing what she initially hoped for.

As of Tuesday morning, donations had reached the 90% mark.

“An easy decision”

Andrejczyk had announced immediately after the games that she planned to sell the medal and the proceeds would then go towards a good cause.

"This silver can save lives, instead of collecting dust in a closet. That is why I decided to auction it to help sick children,” she said as per the Times.

Ghanaians give Samuel Takyi heroes welcome

Ghanaians showed up in their numbers at the Kotoka International Airport as they welcomed Olympic hero Samuel Takyi at the just ended Olympics.

Ghana's only medal winner arrived in the country after a fruitful campaign at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Friday, August 13 to a heroes welcome.

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Lukman Mumuni
Lukman Abdul Mumin is a Sports Journalist based in Accra, Ghana. He has been writing for the past five years. Lukman joined Sports Brief as an Editor for the Local Desk in 2022.
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