Captain Tom Moore, the World War II veteran who walked into the hearts of a closed country while shuffling through his garden to raise money for health workers, has died after test positive for COVID-19. He was 100.
His family announced Moore’s death in a Tuesday tweet with his photo. Two days earlier, the family posted one statement said he had been hospitalized with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus.
Captain Tom, as he became known in headlines and TV interviews, wanted to raise £ 1,000 (about $ 1,300) for the UK’s National Health Service by walking 100 laps around his backyard. But his search went viral and captured the imaginations of millions who were at home during the first wave of the pandemic. Donations poured in from all over Britain and even the United States and Japan, raising about 33 million pounds (over $ 40 million).
“That’s a lot of dollars – isn’t it,” Moore told CBS News foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata.
DYLAN MARTINEZ / REUTERS
After finishing his walk, Moore also participated in a charity single, “You Never Walk Alone,” becoming the oldest UK # 1 artist ever.
“I was absolutely amazed, I have to say. It put a smile on my face because I was like, ‘Oh dear, look at all the musical people who have been pushed off the top all over the world,’” he said.
Moore was honored with a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth in July. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called him “a true national treasure”.
Fans were greeted daily for three weeks in April videos of Captain Tom, bent over from old age, stubbornly pushing his walker into the garden. But it was his sunny attitude during a dark moment that inspired people to look beyond illness and loss.
“Please always remember that tomorrow is going to be a good day,” Moore said in an interview on his walk, saying the words that became his trademark.