A 99-year-old veteran raises $15 million for UK health-care workers by walking round his backyard
A 99-year-old World War II veteran has raised nearly £12.5 million ($15.6 million) for workers in the U.K.’s National Health Service during the coronavirus pandemic.
With the help of a walking frame, Tom Moore completed 100 lengths of his backyard, which is 25 meters (82 feet) long.
He decided to take on the challenge after receiving treatment from the NHS for skin cancer and a broken hip, praising health-care workers for their “patience” and “kindness” in a TV interview.
Moore smashed his original fundraising target of £1,000 ($1,257), receiving around $10 million in donations in just a few days.
Originally from Yorkshire in the northeast of England, Moore served as a soldier in India and Myanmar during the war, after completing an apprenticeship as a civil engineer.
On Twitter, Moore said he was “blown away by the Great British public and their generosity.”
Moore is fundraising for NHS Charities Together , which is a campaign generating funds for all the different charities representing Britain’s health service, in order to support health-care workers looking after those affected by the coronavirus.
In the U.K., there have been 99,489 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 12,868 deaths, according to latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
Kudos Tom Moore, once again you are raising to the occasion.