Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Maria Andrejczyk auctions medal to help fund an infant's heart surgery

Polish javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk who won a silver medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020 has auctioned it off for $125,000 to help fund the heart surgery of an eight-month-old boy. 

Taking to Facebook, Andrejczyk posted that she stumbled upon a fundraiser for the Miloszek Malysa, who had a serious heart defect and needed surgery. 

Following this, she decided to auction off her Olympic medal to help fund the polish boy's operation. 

Also Read: PM Modi shares 'churma' with Neeraj Chopra, ice cream with PV Sindhu during breakfast with Olympians

"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," Andrejczyk wrote in Polish on her FB wall. 

"And in this way, I also want to help. It's for him that I am auctioning my Olympic silver medal," she added.

Andrejczyk's silver medal was purchased by a convenience store company of Poland - ?abka Polska. However, surprisingly, the supermarket chain decided to give the medal back to the Olympian and donated the money for the boy's operation.

The child will undergo surgery at Stanford University, Daily Mail reported. The fundraiser was initiated by his family to garner 1.5 million Polish zloty ($384,512) for the surgery.

Also Read: Tokyo Olympics 2020 draws to close with message of moving forward

Andrejczyk won her first-ever Olympic medal at the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics 2020 Games. 

The Olympian finished second in the women's javelin throw event following a throw of 64.61 meters, after China's China's Liu Shiying, who won the gold medal after throwing a distance of 66.34 meters.

Andrejczyk was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2018, but she recovered and a year after her diagnosis, she qualified for the 2019 World Championships by coming second at the 2019 European Team Championships Super League. However, Andrejczyk was eliminated from World Championship in the qualifying round.