British World War II veteran raises millions for NHS by walking laps in garden

A British veteran of World War II has raised millions for the country’s National Health Service (NHS) with a charity walk he started to commemorate his 100th birthday.

CNN reported Wednesday that 99-year-old Tom Moore has raised more than $6 million in donations for the NHS, which like most health systems around the world is fighting to contain the coronavirus, by pledging to complete 100 laps of his garden with the help of a walker.

His daughter said that Moore recently had a hip replacement and started the walks as a means of physical therapy.

“He’s stoic, humorous, steady as a rock and positive. He always believes that tomorrow is a better day, which is his new hashtag [on Twitter], and is how we were brought up,” Hannah Ingram-Moore told CNN.

A Twitter account set up by Moore’s grandson has now reached nearly 50,000 followers.

I’m Captain Tom Moore, war veteran, 99 years of age (soon to be 100) and I’m walking for the NHS to raise money for our heroes.https://t.co/M1dkvoV3kE

— Captain Tom Moore (@captaintommoore) April 10, 2020

“We set it up on April 8 and we’ve been explaining where the followers are and he’s been reading Twitter every day,” Ingram-Moore said.

The fundraiser comes as the NHS has been under stress due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has sickened almost 99,000 people in the U.K.