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Rest in Peace: Captain Tom Passes Away After Battle With Coronavirus

Initially seeking to raise the relatively modest sum of £1,000 for charity, Captain Tom ended up raising millions of pounds of donations.
Sputnik

Captain Sir Thomas Moore, the former British Army officer known affectionately as "Captain Tom," passed away on 2 February at the age of 100 after contracting COVID-19.

Moore rose to prominence last year amid the global coronavirus pandemic, thanks to his efforts helping to raise £1,000 for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his backyard.

Captain Tom’s initiative, which started in April ahead of his 100th birthday, quickly went viral, resulting in some £33 million (about $40 million) of donations pouring in from both the UK and abroad.

"Please always remember, tomorrow will be a good day," he said in an interview during his walk, with the phrase eventually becoming his trademark.

He was praised with a military guard of honour when he completed his 100th lap and in July, Moore received a knighthood from the Queen during a socially distanced ceremony at Windsor Castle.

"People told me that there was something about my little walk that captured the hearts of those still in shock at the crisis," he wrote in his autobiography. "With a rising number of deaths and the prospect of months of lockdown, everyone was desperate for good news. Apparently, a 99-year-old former Army captain who'd fought in Burma, was recovering from a broken hip, and doing his bit for the NHS was just what they needed."
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