Piotr Malachowski is a Polish athlete that is known for his ability to throw the discus. In fact, he secured the silver medal at the Rio Olympics. Like many athletes, he was upset about not winning the gold, but his reasons went much deeper than most.
Recently, it was made known that he had pledged his medal to a three-year-old boy who was battling with eye cancer. His only hope for survival was extensive treatment found in New York.
As it turns out, the silver medal was all that he needed. He announced on Facebook last week that he was auctioning the medal. In his words, “I fought for gold in Rio. Today I’m calling on everyone to fight for something even more precious. If you help me, my silver medal may turn out to be more precious than gold for Olek.”
Reuters reports that “a Polish foundation called Siepomaga had already gathered about a third of the roughly 480,000 zlotys ($126,000) it said was needed to finance the boy’s treatment at ophthalmic oncologist David Abramson’s clinic in New York.”
Now that the post has gone viral, bids are coming in from around the world. He updated his Facebook page to say that he sold the medal to Dominika and Sebastian Kulczyk “for a sum that allows us to complete” the fundraiser. They are the richest people in Poland and are worth approximately $4.1 billion.
“We were able to demonstrate that together we can make miracles,” he wrote thanking fans. “My silver medal is today worth much more than it was just a week ago. It is worth the life and health of little Olek. This is our great, shared success.”
Via: Distractify
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