Olympian Piotr Malachowski, who won silver in discus-throwing, is auctioning off his medal to support a 3-year-old boy with retinoblastoma.
Malachowski writes on his Facebook page that while getting the gold was the dream, he has the chance to increase the value of his medal by raising money for Olek, who has been fighting a malignant cancer in his eye for two years.
Olek’s mother wrote to Malachowski, asking him to help raise money for her son’s cancer treatments in New York. According his Facebook post (and Facebook’s translate tool), Malachowski was more than happy to help:
In Rio, I fought for the gold. Today I appeal to everyone—let’s fight together about something that is even more precious. The health of this fantastic boy. So you are all invited to the auction: http://bit.ly/2b41eXH. If you help me, my silver for I can be more precious than gold.
The online auction is hosted on Polish site Allegro, and Malachowski is encouraging others to show their support using the hashtag #OcalićOkoOlka, which roughly translates to “Save Olek’s eye.” Other athletes are helping out too. A couple of Polish handball teams have posted photos using the hashtag, encouraging people to support Olek.
There is also Facebook page, Ocalic Oko Olka, set up for updates on Olek’s condition.
The auction ends Friday, and the Globe and Mail reports that a Polish charitable foundation has already raised one-third of the money necessary to fund the boy’s treatment.
