CAPTAIN Tom Moore, a 99-year-old Army veteran, has raised a mind-blowing £27million for the NHS in its fight against the coronavirus.
The WW2 veteran originally wanted to raise £1,000 for NHS Charities Together by completing laps of his garden before his 100th birthday, but smashed his target after over 1million people made donations to his fundraising page.
His efforts inspired 90 year old Margaret Payne to climb the equivalent of a 2,398ft mountain in her own home to help raise money for the NHS in the fight against coronavirus.
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How to donate to Captain Tom Moore's campaign
Captain Tom aimed to complete 100 laps around his garden in Bedfordshire before his 100th birthday at the end of April 2020.
With the aid of a frame, he walked the 100 laps of his 25 metre garden in 10 lap bits each time – which he achieved on Thursday, April 16.
His initial target was £1,000, which took just 24 hours to reach.
This was soon raised to £100,000, only to reach £1million in eight days on April 14.
By April 17, the donations totalled a staggering £17million.
Captain Tom has promised to carry on with his campaign by doing 100 more laps before his 100th birthday.
Appearances on Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan, along with interviews with Victoria Derbyshire and on BBC Radio 2 have helped boost its popularity.
GMB host Piers Morgan contributed £10,000 of his own money to boost the coffers on his JustGiving page, tweeting after: "This extraordinary man @captaintommoore has single-handedly galvanised Britain into raising cash for NHS heroes."
Health Secretary Matt Hancock even paid tribute to Captain Tom's fundraising success in Wednesday's press conference.
The WW2 veteran had a Twitter account set up this month, which has amassed over 172k followers with high-profile celebrities like Rio Ferdinand, Dame Kelly Holmes and Deborah Meaden.
For his heroic work for the NHS, a petition has been set up on Change.org to get Captain Tom a knighthood.
The petition has gained more than 450,000 signatures and a spokesperson from the Prime Minister's office commented: "Tom has captured the heart of the nation with his heroic efforts and raised an incredible amount of money for hard-working NHS staff.
"He has embodied the spirit of the whole country in doing their bit for the battle against coronavirus to support the NHS and save lives.
"From his military contributions to his support for NHS staff, Tom has demonstrated a lifetime of bravery and compassion.
"The PM will certainly be looking at ways to recognise Tom for his heroic efforts."
And Boris Johnson, recovering from the virus, rang to tell him: “You are an inspiration.”
Captain Tom, who is a huge admirer of the Queen, said about a knighthood: “I’d be amazed to have such an honour and meet our absolutely marvellous Queen.
"It’s unbelievable that it could happen."
You can help Captain Tom's campaign by donating through his Just Giving page.
Join our George Cross campaign for NHS staff
SUN readers are today urged to sign a petition calling for our NHS staff to be awarded the George Cross.
Yesterday, we backed a proposal by Lord Ashcroft to honour our health heroes with the gallantry gong given for acts of bravery that did not take place in battle.
A No10 spokesman said: “The NHS is doing a fantastic job and the nation will want to find a way to say thank you when we have defeated this virus.”
SAS hero Andy McNab added: “The award of a George Cross would show an emotional appreciation.”
We are asking readers to sign the petition online at thesun.co.uk/georgecrossfornhs.
What is Captain Tom Moore campaigning for?
Captain Tom's campaign is to raise funds for the "incredible" NHS in its fight against the coronavirus.
NHS Charities Together is the beneficiary of the funds raised from his campaign.
As he first hit £2million in fundraising, Captain Tom tweeted: "2 million pounds!
"When I started this journey last Monday, my target was £1,000 for our incredible NHS."
He thanked his supporters saying: "No words left…just thank you."
On April 16 after completing his 100 laps he tweeted: "Today I completed my final 10 laps, and although the mission is complete – I am going to keep on going.
"The donations stand at 15.5 million pounds – wow.
"Thank you all – now let's continue to support our NHS!"
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