Captain Tom Moore, the 100-year-old war veteran who raised millions for the British National Health Service in the face of Covid-19, has died after contracting the virus.
The news was confirmed on the @captaintommoore Twitter account, in a post that simply featured a picture with the caption ‘Captain Sir Tom Moore 1920-2021’.
So far the Tweet has been liked more than 300,000 times, attracting over 16,000 comments.
Captain Tom - who served in the British Army during the Second World War - first rose to fame in April 2020, when he pledged to walk 100 laps of his garden in hopes of raising £1,000 ($1,365) for the UK’s National Health Service as its staff battled the Covid-19 pandemic.
He went on to raise almost £33m ($45m).
His extraordinary efforts earned him a knighthood from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in a special 2020 honors list.
His daughter Hannah shared on January 31 that her father had been admitted to hospital following being treated for pneumonia.
A spokesperson for the family at the time said Captain Tom had not yet received the Covid-19 vaccine due to the medication he was on for pneumonia.
pic.twitter.com/4QHUcwrHiHFebruary 2, 2021
Following the news of his passing, tributes flooded in from famous faces and fans alike.
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, hailed Captain Tom as ‘a true hero, in every sense of the word’ - one that would be ‘mourned by millions’
British broadcaster Victoria Derbyshire wrote on Twitter: ‘Thank you Sir for everything you did for our country. You will never, ever be forgotten. To Hannah and your whole family - we were privileged to be able to get to know your father a little. Thank you. What an incredible man. Sending so much love and strength to you.’
And CNN’s Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, said: ‘Once and always forever, Captain Sir Tom Moore, a military officer who looked after others. This is how its done. #NeverForget.’
Meanwhile, the UK’s NHS account simply tweeted: ‘Thanks for everything Sir Tom 💙’.
It was also revealed that HM The Queen is sending a private message of condolence to Captain Tom’s family.
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