Capt. Sir Tom Moore, a 100-year-old World War II veteran from the U.K. who made headlines last year after he raised millions for health care workers, has been hospitalized with COVID-19.
Hannah Ingram-Moore, his daughter, announced the news in a statement on Twitter.
“I wanted to update everybody that today (Sunday 31st) my father was admitted to the hospital,” she wrote. “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.”
She continued: “The medical care he has received in the last few weeks has been remarkable and we know that the wonderful staff at Bedford Hospital will do all they can to make him comfortable and hopefully return home as soon as possible.”
“We understand that everyone will be wishing him well,” Ingram-Moore concluded. “We are of course focusing on my father and will update you when we are able to.”
In response, Twitter users many well wishes to Moore, thanking him for his military service and philanthropy early on in the pandemic.
“Well if anyone deserves the very best of the (National Health Service) it’s Sir Tom - the whole nation is behind you all in this latest challenge that life has given us all,” one user wrote.
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"Thoughts and lots of love and virtual hugs are with you and your family Hannah at this terrible time. your dad is such an inspiration to many and heres hoping he is home again soon xx," someone else tweeted.
"Come on Sir Tom you super hero you will make it sending love," added a third.
Moore gained international attention early in the pandemic for his efforts to raise money for the staff and volunteers of the U.K.’s National Health Service. It started when Ingram-Moore, who lives with her father in Marston Moretaine, 50 miles north of London, told her dad that she'd give him a pound for every lap he walked around their yard.
Moore, who was recovering from a broken hip, set the goal of doing 100 laps with the help of his walker before his 100th birthday in late April, NBC News reported. The father and daughter also started a JustGiving page with the goal of raising 1,000 pounds.
In less than two weeks, the Moores ended raising 18 million pounds, about $22 million, and by the summer, that number nearly doubled. The WWII veteran ultimately raised nearly 33 million pounds, or $41 million, from over 1.5 million donors.
As a thank you for his efforts, the British royal family even got in touch with Moore. Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, sent the veteran a special message, and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in July. Moore also received thousands of cards lauding him as an international hero and a military promotion.