WWII veteran who raised millions for UK health workers targeted online before death

Capt. Sir Tom Moore, the British World War II veteran who raised millions for health workers amid the coronavirus pandemic, was the target of online abuse in the weeks leading up to his death earlier this month. 

The veteran’s daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, told BBC Wednesday that while her 100-year-old father mostly received waves of online support for his fundraising efforts, there was also a “vile minority” that sent messages of hate. 

Ingram-Moore said that her family decided to keep the online hate notes a secret from the veteran, who earlier this month died days after being hospitalized to receive treatment for pneumonia after contracting COVID-19.

“I couldn’t tell him because how do you rationalize to a 100-year-old man that something so incredibly good can attract such horror,” Ingram-Moore said Wednesday, according to Reuters. 

“It was as pretty horrific as it could be,” she said of the online comments. 

She went on to say that while the messages “really did hurt,” she and members of her family “have dealt with it and they will not win, they will never make this amazing thing negative.”

Moore gained international recognition last year after he raised approximately 38.9 million pounds (around $54 million) for British National Health Service workers by walking the length of his garden 100 times with his walker. 

Queen Elizabeth II knighted Moore last July in recognition of his philanthropic efforts, and the royal family announced following Moore’s passing that it was sending a “private message of condolence to the family of Captain Sir Tom Moore.” 

“Her Majesty very much enjoyed meeting Captain Sir Tom and his family at Windsor last year,” the royal family’s official Twitter account wrote at the time. “Her thoughts and those of the Royal Family are with them.”

Moore is survived by his two daughters and four grandchildren.