LONDON (Reuters) – British centenarian Captain Tom Moore, who raised millions of pounds for the health service by walking laps of his garden in last year’s lockdown, has been admitted to hospital after testing positive for COVID-19, his daughter said on Sunday.
The World War Two veteran caught the public’s imagination in April, just before his 100th birthday, when he was filmed doing laps with the help of a walking frame around his garden in the village of Marston Moretaine, north of London.
He hoped to raise 1,000 pounds. Instead, he raised more than 30 million ($41 million) for the National Health Service, broke two Guinness world records, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, scored a No. 1 single, wrote an autobiography and helped set up a charity.
“I wanted to update everybody that today … my father was admitted to hospital,” his daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, said on Twitter.
“Over the last few weeks he was being treated for pneumonia and last week tested positive for COVID-19. He was at home with us until today when he needed additional help with his breathing. He is being treated in a ward, although he is not in ICU (intensive care unit),” she said.
She said he had been receiving “remarkable” medical care in the past few weeks. The family knew the staff at Bedford Hospital in the English town of Bedford would do all they could to make him comfortable and “hopefully return home as soon as possible”, she added.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter: “My thoughts are very much with @CaptainTomMoore and his family. You’ve inspired the whole nation, and I know we are all wishing you a full recovery.”
Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer also wished him well, saying: “The whole nation hopes you get well soon @captaintommoore. You’ve been an inspiration to us all throughout this crisis.”
($1 = 0.7294 pounds)
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Edmund Blair and Peter Graff)
