A 99-year-old war veteran has raised more than ￡4 million (US$5 million) for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) by aiming to walk 100 lengths of his back garden before his 100th birthday.
Tom Moore, from Keighley in Yorkshire, initially planned to raise ￡1,000 through the challenge.
However, after launching his campaign on Wednesday last week and raising ￡70,000 in just 24 hours, he extended his fundraiser and hit the ￡1 million target on Tuesday morning. By 3:30pm he had reached ￡2 million and passed ￡3m early in the evening
Photo: AFP / Maytrix Group / Handout
“It’s almost unbelievable isn’t it,” Moore told the BBC. “But when you think who it’s for, and they’re all so brave… I think they deserve every penny of it.”
He is walking 10 laps of the garden a day with the help of his walker, and had hoped to hit 100 laps in time for his birthday on April 30 — but according to his daughter, Hannah, he is likely to reach his goal today.
“I think it’s absolutely fabulous,” Moore said. “I really am pleased to be doing this and serving our nurses and our doctors and all our people in our National Health Service.”
Moore served in World War II, after being selected for officer training in 1940, and completing postings in India and Sumatra. He later served as an instructor at an armored fighting vehicle school in England.
“Our brave nurses and doctors are front-line in this case … this time our army are in doctors and nurses uniforms and they’re doing a marvelous job,” Moore said.
Hannah said although her father was overwhelmed when he raised ￡1 million, he responded with a determination to walk more.
“He’s a typical Yorkshireman, so he’s very stoic, very controlled and takes everything in his stride,” she said. “We always knew that he was this incredible gem of a man, but we never had any idea that his story would capture the hearts of the nation.”
“We thought we could give people a little bit of happy and we wanted to share a little bit about him, and it has just gone beyond even our wildest, wildest dreams,” she said.
All the money Moore raises will be donated to NHS Charities Together to go toward well-being packs, and rest and recuperation centers for staff on the front-line, as well as electronic devices for patients to communicate with their families while in isolation.
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