Coronavirus: ‘Inspirational’ war veteran, 99, completes 100 laps as NHS fundraiser tops £15m

A 99-year-old Second World War veteran has raised more than £15m for the NHS by completing 100 laps of his garden.

Captain Tom Moore, who lives with his family in Bedfordshire, completed the final four 25-metre lengths with a special guard of honour by the 1st battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment.

After finishing his incredible feat, the military veteran said: “I’m feeling fine – I’m surrounded by the right sort of people.”

He told BBC Breakfast: “All the people finding it difficult – and some people are finding it difficult – you’re all being very good and very brave being hemmed in your own house...

“You’ve all got to remember we will get through it in the end – it will take time, but at the end of the day we shall be okay again. The sun will shine on you again.”

Capt Moore’s original target was to raise £1,000 ahead of his 100th birthday. But donations to his Tom’s Walk for the NHS fundraiser have since soared past £15m.

His achievements were singled out by Matt Hancock during the Wednesday evening press conference at Downing Street.

In his opening address, the health secretary said: "I want to pay a special tribute today to Captain Tom Moore.

"Captain Tom, you're an inspiration to us all, and we thank you.”

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

At that point, donations had surpassed £8 million, but by just after 11pm on Wednesday the figure had risen by another £2 million. By midday on Thursday, donations stood at more than £13m and by 6pm were at more than £15m.

The military veteran wrote on Twitter: "10 MILLION POUND! Virtutis Fortuna Comes.”

Earlier, he told BBC One: "I think that's absolutely enormous.

"At no time when we started off with this exercise did we anticipate we'd get anything near that sort of money.

"It just shows that people have such high regard for matters of our National Health Service and it's really amazing that people have paid so much money.”

Capt Moore began raising funds to thank NHS staff who treated him for a broken hip.

His daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, told the BBC that the amount raised was "beyond our wildest expectations”.

When the JustGiving page went live last week, they thought their £1,000 target was a "real stretch", she said.

"No words can express our gratitude to the British public for getting behind Tom, for making this into a heartfelt story," she added.

"He's a stoic Yorkshireman, he's an unruffled straight-down-the-line kind of person and has embraced this adventure as the next stage of his life.

"I believe that life is all about purpose, we all need purpose, and, whilst he's had a life full of purpose, he did fall and break his hip and became much less independent than he had been for the preceding 98 years, and what you have done, the British public, and everyone who's supported him, is giving him his next purpose.

"He is articulate, he's alive, he's doing this and I think he'll do this until everyone says, 'Stop, don't do it anymore’."

Originally from Keighley in West Yorkshire, Capt Moore trained as a civil engineer before enlisting in the British Army for the Second World War, rising to captain and serving in India and Burma.

You can donate to the Tom’s Walk for the NHS campaign at JustGiving.com.

Coronavirus: what happened today

Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter